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June 2009KUWAIT MEDICAL JOURNAL 109electrolytes, renal function tests, and spirometry. Thestudy was approved by the local ethical committee.Operative Technique of VATSThe patient was administered general anesthesiausing a double-lumen endotracheal tube to allowsingle lung ventilation. The patient was placed ina posterolateral thoracotomy position. A 10-mmtrocar was introduced through 1.5-cm skin incisionin the eighth intercostal space at midaxillaryline for insertion of a 0° videothoracoscope (KarlStorz; Tuttlingen, Germany). Two additional portswere then inserted under direct vision: a 12-mmtrocar through the fifth intercostal space on theanterior axillary line, and a 12-mm posterior trocarthrough the fifth intercostal space near the tip ofthe scapula. The bulla was identified and graspedwith empty sponge stick. The excision was done byusing an ENDO-GIA stapling device (Auto SutureCompany; United States Surgical Corp; Northwalk,CT). Then, a parietal pleural abrasion by gauze orapical pleurectomy was performed. Pleurectomywas performed with a hook electrocautery; thelongitudinal limit of the resection ran in an apicaldirection along the sympathetic trunk to the heightof the left subclavian artery or the brachiocephalictrunk on the right side. The pleura was incised atleast one cm away from the sympathetic trunk.Then it was grasped with the endograsper, raised,and divided with the dissector. Once the plane wasdeveloped pleural stripping was achieved by liftingthe pleural flap with the aid of a gauze pledget. Thearea of pleurectomy requires precise hemostasis.None of the patients had bleeding complications.A 28 F chest tube was inserted through the inferiorincision in the eighth intercostal space and connectedto underwater seal suction with a negative pressureof 20 cm H 2O.Postoperative CareAll patients were extubated in the operating roomand transferred to the thoracic surgery ward. Antibioticin the form of cefoxitin was give to all patients. Ananalgesic, pethidine, was administered IM every 4 to6 h according to patient request, and an oral analgesic(acetaminophen) was given as needed. The intercostaldrain was removed when the underlying lung wasfully expanded with no air leakage and < 100 mlpleural fluid drained through the tube for 24 h. Allpatients were discharged the day after removal of thechest tube.Postoperative AssessmentData recorded for all patients included the numberof episodes of pneumothorax, and the operative time.The output and the duration of the pleural drainageafter operation, the amount of analgesia given inthe first 24 h after the operation, length of hospitalstay, postoperative air leak, and recurrences werealso recorded. The follow-up chest radiograph wasdone at intervals of one week, one month, and threemonths, and then the patients were followed upwith a telephone communication for this study. Therecurrence was proved by chest radiography duringfollow-up period.Statistical AnalysisData were expressed as mean ± SD. Data analyseswere made using SPSS software windows version-8 package (SPSS, Chicago, IL). The cut-off level forstatistical significance was a p-value of less than0.05. The unpaired Student’s t test was used to assessthe significance between means of variables in thegroups. The Pearson χ 2 test was used to ascertain thesignificance of association between two categoricalvariables. The χ 2 test was replaced by Fisher’s exacttest if the cell frequencies of any of the 2 χ 2 contigencytables went below five.RESULTSThis series included 44 male and two femalepatients (mean age, 49.3 ± 10.3 years, range 38 to 70years). In all cases , secondary SP was diagnosed onthe basis of the existence of emphysematous bullousdisease confirmed by chest radiographic appearance,computed tomography of the chest, and preoperativespirometry; the mean forced expiratory volume atone second FEV1) was 54.4% of predicted ( range, 43- 110%); and the forced vital capacity (FVC) was 66.9%of predicted ( range, 47 - 110%).Thirty-five patients (76%) were operated uponwhen they had persistent air leak more than sevendays. In eleven patients (24%), VATS was done becauseof a recurrent episode of SP. VATS was unilateral in allcases and all procedures were performed by the samesurgeon, on the right side in 35 cases (76%) and onthe left side in 11 cases (24%). Extension of the trocarincisions was necessary in three patients because ofadhesions.The operative time was 62.3 ± 9.8 minutes (range,40 - 90 minutes). Pleural procedures performedincluded gauze abrasion in 23 cases (50%) and apicalpleurectomy in 23 cases (50%). The clinical data onthese procedures are shown in Table 1.All patients were extubated at the end of theoperation, and no patient required mechanicalventilation during the postoperative period.The mean amount of postoperative analgesia in theform of pethidine was 101.9 ± 26.8 mg in the first 24 h.The duration of chest tube drainage was 4.8 ± 4.5days (range, 2-22 days). Seven patients (15%) had anair leak lasting more than five days. These patients
110The Results of Thoracoscopic Surgery for Secondary Spontaneous PneumothoraxJune 2009Table 1: Results in patients with secondary SP treated by pleuralabrasion or apical pleurectomyParametersOperative time (min)Postoperative pleuraldrainage (ml)Analgesia requirement(mg)Chest tube duration(days)Hospital stay (days)Postoperative air leak:n (%)Recurrence: n (%)PleuralAbrasion*(n = 23)58.8 ± 9.2338.2 ± 106.494.3 ± 22.35.3 ± 5.56.3 ± 5.56 (26)3 (13)* Data presented as mean ± SD or n (%)ApicalPleurectomy*(n = 23)66.7 ± 8.5370.4 ± 98.6109.5 ± 29.13.8 ± 2.44.7 ± 2.41 (4)0p-value0.001required prolonged pleural drainage for 7 to 22 days,and none required a re-operation. Air leak occurred insix patients after pleural abrasion procedures and oneoccurred after apical pleurectomy. The difference isstatistically significant (p = 0.04). Air leak occurred insix out of 22 patients in whom multiple bullous diseasewas identified. Air leak occurred in one out of 24patients with single bulla. The difference is statisticallysignificant (p = 0.02).The postoperative hospital stay ranged from threeto 23 days (mean, 5.7 ± 4.5 days). There were no deathsin this series, and no patients required monitoring inthe ICU.All patients in this study were followed regularly(mean follow-up time, 42 months; range from 36 - 54months). Recurrent ipsilateral pneumothorax occurredafter three of the 46 procedures (6.5%). These occurredat four, 16, and 24 weeks after the original procedure.All these recurrences had occurred after pleuralabrasion procedures and in patients with multiplebullous disease. Two patients underwent a re-operationby thoracotomy; excision of the air leak site and partialpleurectomy was performed. One patient who hadrecurrence at 24 weeks after the original procedurehealed by chest drainage and chemical pleurodesis.DISCUSSIONVideothoracoscopy is a rapidly developingtechnique that allows many surgical procedures tobe performed without the need for thoracotomy.VATS allows inspection of the entire lung,identification of bullae, and resection of bullousdisease. Previous reports of the use of VATS haveconcentrated on its use in the treatment of primarySP. VATS has become the surgical approach ofchoice in the management of select primary SP [3,4,8] .VATS bullectomy and mechanical pleurodesiscarry long-term results that are comparable withthose of thoracotomy [4] . For secondary SP, becausepatients are generally older and ill, the role of VATS0.20.050.20.20.040.07approach is still unclear [7,9,10] . VATS for secondarySP has been shown to be associated with a highermorbidity [9] . Therefore, careful patient selectionand improvement of the surgical technique areimportant factors for ensuring optimal outcome.In this series, we have successfully treated 46patients with secondary SP caused by bullousemphysema using VATS procedure. This grouprepresents a population with minimal co-morbiditywho can tolerate selective one-lung ventilationand general anesthesia. However, problems withintraoperative desaturation were encountered.Two-lung ventilation was then necessary, but, toenable the procedure to continue, low-tidal-volumemanual ventilation was employed while dissectionor manipulation was performed. VATS causes lessrespiratory dysfunction than thoracotomy, thusimproving postoperative recovery.Short term results from this series werecomparable with those reported in the literature [11-13] .The duration of postoperative chest tube drainage isdetermined by the presence of complete expansionof the lung and the absence of air leak. In theliterature, the duration of postoperative drainageis variable. Waller et al [9] reported a mean durationof 6.3 days, Andres et al [12] reported 5.4 days, andPasslick et al [10] reported five days. We report a meanof 4.8 days (range, 2 - 21 days).The postoperative hospital stay is determinedmainly by the duration of pleural drain. Other factorsof importance are postoperative pain and earlymobilization. We have reported a mean hospitalstay of 5.7 days (range, 3 - 23 days). The use of smallincisions of VATS procedure has shown a trend towardshorter hospital stay. Passlick et al [10] have reported amean hospital stay of 12.5 days, Andres et al reported7.7 days, and Waller et al [9] reported nine days.There were no intraoperative or postoperativedeaths in this series. The most frequent postoperativecomplications was prolonged air leak lasting morethan five days [10,12] . Seven patients (15%) in this serieshad prolonged air leak. Andres et al [12] have reported25% incidence. Passlick and colleagues [10] found that16.6% had prolonged air leak and all required a secondintervention by lateral thoracotomy. The cause ofthe air leak problem is either an air leak on the rawsurface of staples or missed bullous areas. Thus, theresection of the bullous area has to be done with care,and the entire lung should be inspected for otherbullae. Passlick et al [10] have reported that incompletepleurodesis without an obvious air leak is anotherfactor for prolonged air leak. We have encounteredthe problem of postoperative air leak after bullectomyin emphysematous lung with patients who havemultiple bullae, particularly on more than one lobeand in a position which are not easily dealt with using
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