[Thoracoscopy and thoracotomy for lung biopsy and wedge resection in solitary pulmonary nodule].
BACKGROUND
Lung wedge resections and biopsies are frequently needed to diagnose and treat benign or malignant lung lesions. This study aims to compare thoracoscopy with thoracotomy for lung biopsy and wedge resection in solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN).


METHODS
A controlled retrospective study was performed in this hospital. Patients with clinical diagnosis of SPN were undergone thoracoscopy or thoracotomy. Data of operation time, hours of stay in recover room, duration and volume of chest tube drainage, accuracy of biopsies, days of hospitalization and the whole cost of hospitalization were evaluated.


RESULTS
All patients were received lung biopsies and wedge resections (thoracoscopy 26,thoracotomy 47), and they were diagnosed pathologically. The days of hospitalization were similar in the two groups. The minutes of operation had no significant difference (thoracoscopy: 103.9±29.4 minutes, thoracotomy: 94.7±33.9 minutes). Both groups had equivalent duration of chest tube drainage (thoracoscopy: 60.3±25.0 hours, thoracotomy: 62.5±20.1 hours, P =0.687) . The total volume of chest tube drainage showed no difference in both groups. The hours of stay in recover room (thoracoscopy: 75.4±21.6 hours, thoracotomy: 80.4±17.7 hours, P =0.287) and days of hospitalization after operation (thoracoscopy: 11.3±3.4 days, thoracotomy: 10.6±2.4 days, P = 0.304 ) were not different significantly. The whole cost of thoracoscopy was 17 800.2±6 038.9 CNY and thoracotomy was 17 677.4±6 327.8 CNY ( P = 0.936 ).


CONCLUSIONS
There is no significant difference in outcomes for thoracoscopy and thoracotomy approaches. Both thoracoscopy and thoracotomy are acceptable procedures for lung biopsy and wedge resection in solitary pulmonary nodules.
Department of Thoracic Surgical Onco logy, Cancer Institute and Hospital, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing 100021, P.R.China.
Sen
S
Wei
Kelin
K
Sun
Rugang
R
Zhang
Dechao
D
Zhang
Guiyu
G
Cheng