title: [Treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax].
abstract: Experience with 300 episodes of spontaneous pneumothorax in 209 patients is reported. The treatment results of two time periods 1980-1983 (A) and 1985-1987 (B) are compared. During the second period the diagnostic work-up was much more extensive and included pleurography, CT-scan and thoracoscopy. This resulted in a more differentiated therapy and a reduction in the recurrence rate from 41% to 22%. Among the different modes of treatment chest-tube drainage alone had the worst results with a 44% rate of early and late recurrence. Better results were obtained with pleurodesis using fibrin adhesive either through a pleural catheter (24%) or thoracoscopically (13%). Operative treatment had the lowest recurrence rate (4%). In the primary treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax chest-tube drainage had a recurrence rate of 33% and catheter-pleurodesis with fibrin adhesive of 18% while no relapse could be observed in the group treated by thoracoscopy or operation. In the treatment of recurrent pneumothorax chest-tube drainage alone is unsuitable because of a failure rate of 64%. Catheter pleurodesis also had a high rate of recurrence (30%). The best results were again obtained by thoracoscopic (19%) and operative treatment (4%). On the basis of the described experience an individualized approach to the treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax is recommended.
authors.affiliation: Abteilung für Allgemein- und Thoraxchirurgie, Klinikums Nürnberg.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gebhardt
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bölcskei
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wilkening
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hávásy
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Juckenat
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010994:Pleura / Q000601:surgery; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012422:Rupture, Spontaneous; D013396:Suction; D013906:Thoracoscopy; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
vernacular_title: Die Behandlung des Spontanpneumothorax.