title: The surgical treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax by video-thoracoscopy.
abstract: Since March 1991, 66 patients with spontaneous pneumothorax were treated thoracoscopically employing the principles of minimally invasive surgery. Of these cases, 14 involved a first occurrence, 18 had a pneumothorax longer than 7 days, and 34 were recurrences; causative lung disease was determined in 25 patients. The blebs and bullae were ligated with chromic catgut Roeder loop or resected with the Endo-GIA stapler. If pathological changes to the lung consistent with Vanderschueren's stage IV were found (n = 36), the treatment was extended to include a parietal pleurectomy. No complications requiring therapy were encountered, the average postoperative hospital stay was 3.2 days. During an average observation period of 10 months (1-27) the recurrence rate was 4.5%. Thoracoscopic therapy proved to be a simple and safe method for all forms of spontaneous pneumothorax.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, University of Berne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Inderbitzi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Furrer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000145:classification / Q000601:surgery*; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012008:Recurrence; D020708:Thoracoscopes; D013906:Thoracoscopy / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014741:Video Recording / Q000295:instrumentation