Video-assisted thoracic surgery for recurrent primary spontaneous pneumothorax in reoperated chests.
OBJECTIVE
There are few reports on video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) for recurrent primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) in reoperated chests. We report our experience of performing redo VATS for recurrent PSP in reoperated chests.


METHODS
Between July 1, 2005 and December 31, 2007, 55 patients at Jikei University Kashiwa Hospital and 80 patients at Jikei University Hospital underwent VATS for PSP. In this period, no patient underwent thoracotomy for PSP. Ten of these patients underwent surgery for recurrent PSP in a reoperated chest: five from our hospital and five who were referred from other institutions.


RESULTS
Video-assisted thoracic surgery revealed minimal to strong adhesions in all ten patients. Nine patients underwent bullectomy using endoscopic staplers, and seven had covering pleural adhesions. There were no major complications or mortality, and no patient showed any sign of recurrence of PSP in the follow-up period.


CONCLUSIONS
Redo VATS on a reoperated chest is a promising technique for treating recurrent PSP.
Akiba
Tadashi
T
Department of Surgery, Jikei University Kashiwa Hospital, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8567, Japan.
Marushima
Hideki
H
Kobayashi
Susumu
S
Morikawa
Toshiaki
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000601:surgery*; D012008:Recurrence; D012086:Reoperation / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020775:Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D035441:Thoracic Wall / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult