Spontaneous fracture of indwelling pleural catheter

Abstract

Indwelling pleural catheters (IPCs) are increasingly used for the management of symptomatic malignant pleural effusion worldwide. IPCs have been documented to reduce the number of hospital bed days in patients with malignant pleural effusion and thus are often used as the preferred mode of management in fit healthy patients with good performance status. Complications related to IPCs, mainly in the form of pleural infection and needle tract metastasis, are well reported in the literature. Similarly, fracture of IPCs is a recognized complication during the process of IPC removal. We report the first ever case of spontaneous fracture of IPC in a patient with Stage IV lung cancer with malignant pleural effusion who was undergoing active chemotherapy and symptomatic management of the pleural effusion with an IPC.