A shunt is a flexible tube which contains a small pump in the center enabling fluid to be moved from one place in the body to another. A pleuro-peritoneal shunt will drain fluid from the chest and move it to the stomach so there’s a greater chance it will be naturally absorbed. The patient will activate the pump (which resides over the ribs, but under the skin) several times a day until all the fluid has been dispersed. This procedure is usually carried out if other techniques fail to solve the problem.
Find out how cancer cells behave differently than normal cells.
