[A case of chronic tuberculous empyema with a fistula treated with an endobronchial Watanabe spigot before surgery].

A 78-year-old man was referred to our hospital because of pyrexia in October 2008. Chest X-ray films and chest computed tomography (CT) indicated chronic tuberculous empyema in the right hemithorax. His general condition was not improved by antibiotic treatment, and CT showed pyothorax with a niveau and bronchial fistulas in May 2009. We subsequently performed open window thoracostomy and decortication of the residual dead spaces, but the bronchial fistulas remained. As this approach makes it difficult to ensure the sterility of the cavity, we therefore performed fiberoptic bronchoscopy and occluded the bronchus with an endobronchial Watanabe spigot (EWS). However, the bronchial fistula recurred, and therefore we performed this treatment again. We continued to carefully wash the cavity and the leakage stopped, whereupon the cavity became sterile. We then performed omental pedicle and muscle flap closure and thoracoplasty in April 2010. The empyema was cured without any complications. These findings suggest that using an EWS before surgery can be highly effective in controlling chronic tuberculous empyema with fistulas.