Impact of Pleural Manometry on Chest Discomfort After Therapeutic Thoracentesis

Arm I will undergo a standard of care therapeutic thoracentesis procedure, and in addition include pleural pressure monitoring (via an FDA-approved digital manometer) which is also standard of care but left at the discretion of physicians as per expert recommendations. In this group, the procedure will be stopped when the patient develops symptoms or when all the fluid has been removed, and will also be stopped if the pressure begins to fall quickly in the fluid collection.

Arm II will undergo a standard of care therapeutic thoracentesis procedure. In this group, the procedure but will be stopped when the patient develops symptoms or when all the fluid has been removed.