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What Causes Breathing Difficulty And Peripheral Edema While Having An Indwelling PleurX Catheter?

Posted on Tue, 4 Apr 2017

Question: Hi, my husband has stage four colorectal cancer, has been through many rounds of chemo and is now in hospice care at home. He has a pleurex catheter and usually we get around 3 ltrs of fluid twice a week. Lately, however that has been decreasing, last Friday, we only got .75 ltr. His stomach is still extended, though. He hasn't had any increased breathing problems, the edema in his legs is still the same (it was very bad before but had recently come down to almost normal), he is very skinny, but has an appetite and can eat most things. He hasn't had chemo since mid December. My questions is why has the fluid stopped? The nurse thinks it might be that his liver is starting to not work at all. I can't find any info on the internet.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Ivan Romich (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Few possible causes

Detailed Answer:
Hi and welcome.
This is not sign of liver failure and even contrary, increased fluids production would indicate worsening of liver function.This may be caused by occlusion of the catheter, intrabdominal adhesions,or progression of colon tumor,but this should not be related to liver function worsening. It would be good to do an ultrasound to see the presence of fluid and position of catheter...wish you good health. Regards

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad