TissueDB/Tissues/Pus

▼This page is a tissue entry for the SELF Tissue Database.It documents the structures, recommended materials, and related simulators associated with this tissue to support low-cost, reproducible surgical simulator development.

Pus collects in different places in the body, and each collection is named for where it gathers. This page covers those collections.

Empyema consists of purulent fluid, fibrinous debris, and inflammatory material accumulated within a body cavity, most commonly the pleural space.^[1] The term is empyema thoracis, which means "pus in the chest" in Greek.^[1]

The second collection covered here is the subcutaneous abscess. The soft-tissue module in the table below builds that case: an abscess set on a thick sponge, beneath about 2 cm of pigmented gelatin and a felt skin covered in clear packing tape.^[2]

• Pleural effusion — a distinct entity: fluid in the pleural space that is not necessarily infected. Empyema is the infected, purulent case; the two are not interchangeable.
• Pleura — affected membrane in pleural empyema
• Skin — thoracostomy access point
• Muscle — intercostal musculature layers
• Lung — visceral pleural surface adjacent to empyema