title: Treatment of intractable pneumothorax with emphysema using endobronchial watanabe spigots.
abstract: Prolonged air leakage is a major cause of morbidity in pneumothorax. When conservative management is not effective, surgery should be performed. However, surgery is not appropriate in patients with low pulmonary function. In these patients, occlusion of the airway with endobronchial blockers may be attempted under bronchoscopy. We treated two patients with prolonged air leakage using endobronchial Watanabe spigots under fibrobronchoscopy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Korea.
authors.forename: Doo Yun
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yu Rim
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Jee Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.forename: Seok Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Haam
authors.forename: Yoon Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Yoichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watanabe
keywords: Endoscopy; Pneumothorax; Pulmonary emphysema