Blood Culture and Pleural Fluid Culture Yields in Pediatric Empyema Patients: A Retrospective Review, 1996-2016.

Empyema is a complication of community-acquired pneumonia. We conducted a retrospective analysis of empyema patients discharged from 1996 to 2016, examining culture results according to timing of antibiotic administration. Blood culture decreased from 45% to 4% after antibiotics, and pleural fluid culture yield decreased from 67% to 30%.