Pleural Space Saline Irrigation in Addition to Standard Intrapleural Thrombolytic Therapy in Empyema/Complicated Parapneumonic Effusion

March 24, 2026 updated by: Dagny K. Anderson, Mayo Clinic

A Study to Evaluate the Efficacy of Pleural Space Saline Irrigation in Addition to Standard Intrapleural Thrombolytic Therapy in the Management of Empyema/Complicated Parapneumonic Effusion

The purpose of this study is to see if there is any benefit in adding saline irrigation through a chest tube to the standard course of treatment for people diagnosed or suspected of having a pleural space infection.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Pleural space infections portend considerable morbidity and require procedural and sometimes surgical intervention in the context of prolonged hospital stays (median length of stay has been reported as 14-19 days) for definitive management. Key aspects of management include pleural space evacuation and appropriate antimicrobial therapy. The antimicrobial regimen is initiated intravenously and is often transitioned to an oral regimen as guided by clinical improvement, radiographic improvement, and microbiologic studies though conventional bacterial cultures remain negative in as many as 40% of cases of pleural space infection. There is variability in antimicrobial duration though this is typically continued for at least 3 weeks. The MIST 2 trial investigated the role of intrapleural tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) and dornase (DNase) in the management of pleural space infections, noting that disrupting septations and reducing pleural fluid viscosity were necessary steps to achieve successful drainage in in-vitro studies. MIST 2 demonstrated that a combination of intrapleural t-PA and DNase improved pleural space evacuation on serial chest x-ray and reduced the frequency of surgical referral and hospital length of stay.

Saline irrigation of the pleural space has been proposed to reduce stasis and dilute bacteria, cytokines, and coagulation factors, which induce pleural space organization. The Pleural Irrigation Trial was a pilot study evaluating the role of 250 cc 0.9% sodium chloride irrigation three times daily for 3 days in comparison to standard care, which included maintaining thoracostomy tubes on suction and flushing with 30 cc three times daily. Saline irrigation led to a 32.3% reduction in pleural fluid volume as assessed by computed tomography in comparison to 15.3% in the standard care arm. Fewer patients in the irrigation group were referred for surgery (OR 7.1).

To our knowledge, the efficacy of intrapleural saline irrigation in addition to fibrinolytic therapy has not been studied in comparison to fibrinolytic therapy alone. The Mayo Clinic Interventional Pulmonary practice in Rochester, MN intends to study this in the context of the inpatient pleural service, the team that is routinely consulted for patients with proven or suspected pleural space infections. This team routinely places and manages ultrasound-guided locking-loop thoracostomy tubes and additionally manages patients with thoracostomy tubes placed by intensivists, surgeons, and interventional radiologists when consulted. Our team intends to recruit hospitalized patients that meet the inclusion/exclusion criteria of the study. Those that provide informed consent to participate in the study will be randomized to usual care versus intrapleural saline irrigation + usual care.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Minnesota
      • Rochester, Minnesota, United States, 55905
        • Recruiting
        • Mayo Clinic in Rochester
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion criteria:

  • Purulent pleural fluid versus pleural fluid analysis demonstrating pH <7.2, glucose <60 mg/dL, positive Gram stain, or positive pleural fluid culture versus multiseptated pleural effusion with infection at top of differential diagnosis
  • Patients initiating intrapleural lytic therapy under the care of the Interventional Pulmonary consult service at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Unwillingness to give informed consent
  • Patients with known bleeding diathesis
  • Platelet count <50,000 per μL
  • INR >2.2 (of note, INR can be allowed to drift down or be reversed pharmacologically prior to initiation of intrapleural lytics/saline)
  • Current use of systemic anticoagulation or antiplatelet therapy without the ability to hold therapy for the recommended amount of time prior to an invasive procedure (aspirin monotherapy is acceptable)
  • Pregnant or nursing females, or females of child-bearing potential who decline a pregnancy test prior to enrollment
  • Incarcerated patients
  • Presence of ipsilateral bronchopleural fistula
  • Current or recent (within past 30 days) presence of tunneled pleural catheter on the same side as the current proven/suspected pleural space infection

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Saline Irrigation Group
Subjects will receive twice daily fibrinolytic therapy in addition to daily saline irrigation through their chest tube until the treating physician determines that the pleural space has been adequately evacuated
250 cc waves of warmed saline irrigation (up to 2000 cc) through thoracostomy tube on a daily basis
No Intervention: Standard of Care Group
Subjects will receive twice daily fibrinolytic therapy through their chest tube until the treating physician determines that the pleural space has been adequately evacuated

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Adequate pleural space evacuation
Time Frame: Approximately 3 days
Number of intrapleural fibrinolytic doses to achieve adequate pleural space evacuation (defined as <=2.5 cm separation between parietal and visceral pleural layers on bedside ultrasound or no more than small residual effusion on clinically-directed CT chest imaging).
Approximately 3 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Need for additional interventions
Time Frame: Approximately 10 days
Number of additional interventions to achieve satisfactory pleural space evacuation, such as additional paired lytics beyond 6 doses, ipsilateral thoracentesis, additional ipsilateral thoracostomy tube placement, surgical intervention, or discharge with an empyema tube in situ.
Approximately 10 days
Thoracostomy tube days
Time Frame: Approximately 10 days
Number of thoracostomy tube days from the time that treatment is initiated
Approximately 10 days
Number of hospital days
Time Frame: Approximately 14 days
Number of hospital days from the time that treatment is initiated
Approximately 14 days
Pain tolerance of pleural space irrigation
Time Frame: Approximately 3 days
Measured using a visual analog scale (VAS) questionnaire that assesses pain experienced during treatment utilizing a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 meaning the worst pain imaginable.
Approximately 3 days
Number of adverse events
Time Frame: Approximately 10 days
Total number of adverse events including new/worsened respiratory failure, septic shock, hemothorax
Approximately 10 days

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Dagny Anderson, MD, Mayo Clinic

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 29, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 23, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 23, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

May 30, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 30, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 24, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 23-013234
  • HT9425-24-C-0010 (Other Grant/Funding Number: US Dept of Defense)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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