RT Book, Section A1 McKean, Sylvia C. A2 McKean, Sylvia C. A2 Ross, John J. A2 Dressler, Daniel D. A2 Scheurer, Danielle B. SR Print(0) ID 1137613124 T1 Thoracentesis T2 Principles and Practice of Hospital Medicine, 2e YR 2017 FD 2017 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9780071843133 LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1137613124 RD 2022/08/16 AB Physicians or other clinicians perform an estimated 173,000 thoracenteses in the United States every year. The strict indications for thoracentesis are the presence of pleural fluid of unknown etiology where the physician cannot initiate care prior to diagnosis and severe dyspnea (Table 124-1).