Abstract
Background Patients with pleural effusion are frequently admitted to hospital on the medical intake. Some of these admissions may be predicted and acute admission avoided. Aim A weekly specialist pleural diseases clinic was established in May 2011. We assessed whether provision of dedicated clinic time for patients who may require pleural intervention would reduce hospital admission rates of patients with pleural effusion. Method A retrospective review of electronic records for patients attending the clinic between 01/06/11-30/11/11. Hospital records were analysed for pleural effusion admission events (ICD10 codes J90/J91) in this period and between 01/06/10–30/11/10. Results Table 1.
Conclusion Development of a pleural clinic is associated with a reduced length of stay for patients admitted with pleural effusion. This could have significant cost-saving implications. However, the number of admissions increased by 219% over the study period. The cause of this rise is not clear.
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