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Introduction Pleural empyema is the condition of the pleural cavity when initially sterile pleural effusion has become infected. In the majority of cases, it is of parapneumonic origin. Parapneumonic effusions and pleural empyemata usually continuously progress in severity. The American Thoracic Society divides them into three stages: exudative, fibrinopurulent and organizing. The therapy depends on the stage. Aim To assess whether thoracoscopy should be considered better than conservative treatment and to assess the feasibility of the thoracoscopic approach to the 3 rd phase of pleural empyema. Material and methods The clinical course of 115 patients treated from 1996 to 2017 was analyzed. 45 patients operated on thoracoscopically after the failure of conventional treatment were compared with 70 patients treated by primary thoracoscopic drainage and decortication. Results The results of the study demonstrated that patients treated primarily by thoracoscopy had a shortened length of hospital stay (16.6 vs. 19.3 days), reduced drainage time (7.9 vs. 9.8 days), and shorter time of general therapy (31.8 vs. 38.0 days). They required fibrinolysis less frequently (12.8 vs. 26.7% of patients) and had reduced risk of reoperation (10 vs. 15.6% of cases). Operation time in the 3 rd stage was only 15 min longer. The difference in length of hospital stay was only 0.8 days in favor of less severe cases. Conclusions The thoracoscopic approach is safely feasible in the 3 rd stage of pleural empyema and should be considered as the preferred approach. Furthermore, the post-operative stay and general course of the disease are milder whenever surgery would not be delayed by prolonged conservative treatment attempts.