Single-centre retrospective experience of complications and outcomes of computed tomography-guided lung biopsy and interventions for the management of intrathoracic infections

To investigate the complications and outcomes of computed tomography (CT)-guided lung biopsy and interventions in the management of intrathoracic infections. Twenty-nine patients were examined. Eleven (37.9%) patients were diagnosed with pulmonary nodules, and 18 (62.1%) underwent drainage of lung abscesses. The median age of the patients was 77 years, and 44.8% had a poor performance status. The major underlying diseases were hypertension and malignancies. The puncture site was mostly the right lower lobe (44.8%), whereas there were no cases of puncture in the left upper lobe. The nodule diagnostic success rate was 54.5% and the success rate of lung abscess drainage was 88.9%. The common organisms identified were Aspergillus, S. pneumoniae and S. aureus in the nodules and S. intermedius in the lung abscess drainage. Pigtail catheters were most commonly used for drainage (50%). Pneumothorax and hypoxaemia were the most common adverse events (13.8%), followed by fever (10.3%). Clinical trial registration: This retrospective study was registered in the UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (registration No. UMIN000055755). This clinical trial was registered on 6 October 2024 and is publicly available.