Introduction:

Pleurocutaneous fistula is a rare entity that appears as a complication of thoracic trauma, pleuro-pulmonary surgery or infectious processes that affect the pleural space such as empyema.

Objective:

To describe clinical imaging findings of a patient with pleurocutaneous fistula secondary to empyema.

Clinical case:

56-year-old white male patient of rural origin, inveterate smoker and habitual consumer of alcoholic beverages, with a personal pathological history of community-acquired pneumonia that required hospitalization due to the onset of pleural complications. He went to the internal medicine service of the "Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" Hospital because for two months he had noticed a hole under his right armpit, through which he was draining foul-smelling fluid. The imaging studies included fistulography and computerized axial tomography. The clinical imaging diagnosis was pleurocutaneous fistula. The patient was admitted to the Medicine service for antimicrobial treatment; diagnostic and therapeutic interventionist procedures were performed; he evolved with complications and passed away. Pleurocutaneous fistula is a complication difficult to manage for the attending physician, as it does not always usually resolve with traditional methods of treatment and requires prolonged healing periods.

Conclusions:

Pleurocutaneous fistula is rare and difficult to manage. The certainty diagnosis is made through fistulography.

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