title: Surgical treatment of primary spontaneous pneumothorax with video-assisted thoracic surgery.
abstract: We report the results of our experience using video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) to treat primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) from January 1992 until December 1994 in a multicentered co-operative study. A total of 132 patients (110 males and 22 females, aged 13-38 yrs, mean age 26 yrs) were treated by VATS to deal with the PSP that they presented with. A standard VATS technique was used. Apical bullae were always removed, and mechanical pleural abrasion was performed, leaving a pleural drainage tube. In two cases (1.5%), a switch to thoracotomy was necessary. In eight cases (6%), air leakage persisted for 5 days after surgery, which resolved with pleural drainage. There were eight postoperative relapses (6%), which were treated with pleural drainage (n = 4), VATS (n = 3) or axillar thoracotomy (n = 1). The average postoperative stay was 5.6 days (range 2-15 days). We conclude that video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery is a viable alternative for the treatment of primary spontaneous pneumothorax. There is, however, a high relapse rate, and in a number of cases air leakage persists in the postoperative period.
authors.affiliation: Thoracic Surgery Service, University Hospital Ntra. Sra. del Pino, Canary Island, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Freixinet
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Canalis
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Rivas
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rodriguez de Castro
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gimferrer
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sanchez-Lloret
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004724:Endoscopy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000601:surgery*; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012008:Recurrence; D013906:Thoracoscopy; D014741:Video Recording