Abstract: 〔Abstract〕Objective: To discuss the effect of timing of pleural fiberboard stripping on the therapeutic effect of chronic tuberculous
empyema（CTE）. Methods: 160 patients with CTE were selected from June 2014 to June 2018 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Dali
University. All the patients were given pleural fiberboard stripping. According to the timing of surgery, patients were divided into the
early group（after 6 to 12-week anti-tuberculosis treatment）and the normal group（after 12-week anti-tuberculosis treatment）, with
80 patients in each group. Results: The operative time, pleural thickness, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative intubation time and
complication rate of the early group were significantly lower than those of the normal group, and the differences were statistically
significant（P<0.05）. The postoperative forced vital capacity（FVC）, forced expiratory volume in the first second（FEV1）and FEV1 ：
FVC of both the two groups were significantly higher than those before the operation; the FVC, FEV1, FEV1 ： FVC of the early group
were significantly higher than those of the normal group. The differences were statistically significant（P < 0.05）. The treatment
effective rate of the early group was higher than that of the normal group, with statistically significant difference （P < 0.05）.
Conclusion: Compared with the pleural decortication after 12-week anti-tuberculosis treatment, the surgery after 6 to 12-week anti-
tuberculosis treatment can effectively reduce surgical trauma and complications in patients with CTE. It is helpful to improve the
patient′s lung function and has better therapeutic effects, so it is worth for further clinical popularization.

Key words: 〔Key words〕pleural fiberboard stripping, timing of surgery, chronic tuberculous empyema, therapeutic effect