ATS
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Personal Folders
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Author home page(s):
Bernward Passlick
Olaf Thetter
Right arrow Permission Requests
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Passlick, B.
Right arrow Articles by Thetter, O.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Passlick, B.
Right arrow Articles by Thetter, O.

Ann Thorac Surg 1998;65:324-327
© 1998 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

Original Articles: General Thoracic

Efficiency of Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery for Primary and Secondary Spontaneous Pneumothorax

Bernward Passlick, MD, Christine Born, Karl Häussinger, MD, Olaf Thetter, MD

Division of Thoracic Surgery and Pulmonary Medicine, Central Hospital Gauting, Gauting, Germany

Accepted for publication August 6, 1997.

Dr Passlick, Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Klinikum Innenstadt, University of Munich, Nussbaumstrasse 20, 80336 Munich, Germany.

Background. The objective of the study was to analyze the efficiency of video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) for the treatment of primary (PSP) or secondary (SSP) spontaneous pneumothorax in an initial series of 99 patients.

Methods. From April 1992 to December 1995, 74 men and 25 women with a median age of 31 years (range, 17 to 85 years) were treated by VATS for persistent (n = 40) or recurrent (n = 59) PSP (n = 65) or SSP (n = 34). Postoperative parameters such as use of analgesics, length of hospital stay, and duration of drainage were compared with those of a control group of 100 patients treated by lateral thoracotomy between January 1988 and December 1991.

Results. Conversion to lateral thoracotomy was necessary in 6 (9.2%) patients with PSP and in 10 (29.4%) patients with SSP, in most cases because of adhesions. Postoperative complications occurred in 1 (1.7%) patient with PSP and in 6 (25%) patients with SSP. There were no operative deaths. After a median follow-up period of 29 months, 4 (4.8%) recurrences were noted. All recurrences occurred in patients with PSP and during the first year of our experience. Compared with lateral thoracotomy, treatment by VATS resulted in a significantly shorter hospital stay and drainage duration in patients with PSP but not in patients with SSP. The use of analgesics was reduced in all patients treated by VATS independent of the type of pneumothorax.

Conclusions. Surgical treatment by VATS is a viable alternative to lateral thoracotomy in patients with PSP. The usefulness of VATS in patients with SSP remains to be defined.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
ANN THORAC SURG ASIAN CARDIOVASC THORAC ANN EUR J CARDIOTHORAC SURG
J THORAC CARDIOVASC SURG ICVTS ALL CTSNet JOURNALS
Copyright © 1998 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.