The effectiveness of octreotide in the treatment of post-operative chylothorax

Abstract

octreotide, a somatostatin analogue, may be effective in the treatment of post-operative chylothorax.

The use of octreotide to treat congenital chylothorax

“…Several recent case reports and small institutional series have reported a 0022-3468/$ -see front matter D 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2005.12.041 reduction in overall hospitalization as a result of hastened resolution of chylous effusions [4,7,8,11]. We report here the successful use of continuous administration of octreotide to treat congenital bilateral chylous effusions in a newborn.…”

“…Prolonged chyle loss leads to loss of lymphocytes, protein, and immune globulins, placing the patient at risk for infection, malnutrition, and anasarca. Although most individuals respond to conservative therapy, surgical intervention such as thoracic duct ligation [7], pleuroperitoneal shunts [8][9][10], or pleurodesis is recommended after a 5 to 7 days course of medical therapy has failed [9].…”

Successful management of a bilateral diaphragmatic lymphangioma

“…More than 90% shrinkage of lymphangioma was noted nutrition is often effective. Recently, successful treatment of postoperative chylothorax by octreotide has been reported [3,4]. It has been shown that somatostatin at a near physiologic dose reduces canine thoracic duct lymph flow rate.…”

Somatostatin treatment of massive lymphorrhea following excision of a lymphatic malformation

“…Most reports describe its use following failure of conservative measures. In these reports lymphatic fistula output usually decreased dramatically within 72 h and essentially stops within 5-10 days [2,3,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. This dramatic response has prompted Leibovitch et al to recommend that it be used early in treatment of postoperative chylous ascites, prior to instituting TPN [22].…”