The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 30, 569-574, Copyright © 1980 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Transaxillary pleurectomy for treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax
J Deslauriers, M Beaulieu, JP Despres, M Lemieux, J Leblanc and M Desmeules
In the 16-year period 1962 to 1978, 409 transaxillary apical pleurectomies
were carried out for definitive treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax in
362 patients. Surgical indications included recurrence (336), bilaterality
of the disease (23), persistent air leak (22), and nonexpansion of the lung
(10). There was 1 operative death (unsuspected brain tumor), and 3 patients
required reexploration for clot removal. The average postoperative period
of hospitalization was 6 days. Three hundred ten patients (86% of all
patients) were contacted for follow-up 1 to 16 years after operation
(average, 4.5 years). There were two documented episodes of recurrent
ipsilateral pneumothorax (0.6%). Postoperative pulmonary function studies
were done in 40 patients (unilateral, 29; bilateral, 11) 2 to 5 years after
operation. The results indicate that there are no significant abnormalities
compared with predicted values.