Recommended criteria for surgical drainage of parapneumonic effusions include evidence of frank purulence, a glucose level less than 40 mg/dl, a pH of less than 7.00, or an LDH greater than 1,000 IU/L. To test the utility of these criteria, we reviewed the three-year experience of three Rochester, NY, hospitals. We identified 133 patients undergoing thoracentesis for putative parapneumonic effusions. Of 91 patients with neutrophilic exudates, 43 met one or more criteria for tube thoracostomy: 48 did not. Twenty-one of the 43, including 9 with frank empyema, underwent immediate drainage. Of the 22 who did not, 11 eventually required tube thoracostomy and/or decortication. Of the 48 not meeting any of the criteria, 7 also came to surgery. Using whether the patients eventually underwent surgery as a measure of outcome, we calculated for those patients not undergoing immediate drainage the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values, and negative predictive values for each of the criteria. The four criteria have relatively high specificity ranging from 82 to 96 percent, but have low sensitivity varying from only 18 percent for a positive Gram stain to 53 percent for a fluid LDH greater than 1,000 IU/L. We conclude that these criteria have limited usefulness in predicting the need for eventual chest tube drainage/decortication. Patients not meeting the criteria require close follow-up as well.