Secondary outcomes
| Study ID | Hospital stay (days) | Duration of chest tube (days) | Other outcomes | ||
| Abx | Placebo | Abx | Placebo | ||
| Grover13 | Shorter hospital stay | N/A | Abx: less fever, positive pleural fluid and wound cultures | ||
| Stone6 | 8 | 10 | 6 | Abx: lower positive pleural fluid and wound cultures | |
| LeBlanc5 | N/A | N/A | Abx: less overall infections | ||
| Mandal14 | 6.83 | 5.5 | 3.75 | 4.33 | |
| LoCurto15 | 6.6 | 10.3 | 5.4 | 3.8 | Placebo: 5 thoracotomies for empyema |
| Brunner20 | 5.2 | 8.3 | 4.1 | 7.2 | |
| Cant16 | 3.9 | 5.6 | 3.5 | 4.1 | Similar positive pleural fluid cultures Placebo: 5 thoracotomies for sepsis |
| Nichols19 | 6.3 | 7.2 | 4.9 | 5 | Abx: less fever, WBC count Placebo: 1 thoracotomy for empyema |
| Gonzalez17 | 5.9 | 6.3 | 4.9 | 4.8 | Abx: more chest tube reinsertion, pleural effusion |
| Maxwell7 | 7.9 | 4.6 | |||
| Villegas Carlos18 | N/A | 6.56 | |||
| Heydari12 | N/A | 6.8 | |||
Hospital stay and duration of chest tube are presented in mean number of days.
Abx, antibiotics; WBC, white blood cells.