Pleural service

Our pleural service is available at Barnet Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital. We provide:

• portable/bedside pleural ultrasound for diagnosis of pleural effusions (excess fluid in the chest cavity)
• pleurodesis and indwelling pleural catheters (IPCs) for management of persistent pleural effusions
• chest drains for the management of collapsed lung from a pneumothorax (air in the chest cavity)
• pleural biopsies for the investigation of thickened chest cavity lining
• intrapleural fibrinolysis (specialist clot busting medicines applied though the chest drain) for pleural infection

We have award-winning expertise at managing pneumothorax with minimally invasive devices, enabling many patients to be at home rather than needing to stay as in-patients.