Combined autologous blood patch-immediate patient rollover does not reduce the pneumothorax or chest drain rate following CT-guided lung biopsy compared to immediate patient rollover alone.

PUPROSE:The purpose of this study was to evaluate a combined autologous blood-patch (ABP)-immediate patient rollover (IPR) technique compared with the IPR technique alone on the incidence of pneumothorax and chest drainage following CT-guided lung biopsy. METHODS:In this interventional cohort study of both prospectively and retrospectively acquired data, 652 patients underwent CT-guided lung biopsy. Patient demographics, lesion characteristics and technical biopsy variables including the combined ABP-IPR versus IPR alone were evaluated as predictors of pneumothorax and chest drain rates using regression analysis. RESULTS:The combined ABP-IPR technique was performed in 259 (39.7 %) patients whilst 393 (60.3 %) underwent IPR alone. There was no significant difference in pneumothorax rate or chest drains required between the combined ABP-IPR vs IPR groups (p =.08, p =.60 respectively). Predictors of pneumothorax adjusted for the combined ABP-IPR and IPR alone groups included age (p =.02), lesion size (p =.01), location (p =.005), patient position (p =.008), emphysema along the needle track (p =.005) and lesion distance from the pleura (p =.02). Adjusted predictors of chest drain insertion included lesion location (p =.09), patient position (p =.002), bullae crossed (p =.02) and lesion distance from the pleura (p =.02). CONCLUSION:The combined ABP-IPR technique does not reduce the pneumothorax or chest drain rate compared to the IPR technique alone. Utilising IPR without an ABP following CT-guided lung biopsy results in similar pneumothorax and chest drain rates while minimising the potential risk of systemic air embolism.