title: Surgical treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis: is video-assisted thoracic surgery "better" than thoracotomy?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy and conventional open lobectomy in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) who require surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty patients with pulmonary TB who required lobectomy were randomized to receive either VATS or open lobectomy. Patient demographic, pulmonary function, operative, and postoperative data were compared between the groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 20 patients who received VATS lobectomy (median age 31.5 years, range 19-67 years) and 20 that received open lobectomy (median age 33.5 years, range 16-60 years). The two groups were similar with respect to gender, age and pulmonary function (all, P>0.05). Lobectomy was completed by VATS in 19 of 20 patients (95%), and by thoracoscope-assisted mini-incision lobectomy in 1 patient. The median intraoperative blood loss was 345 mL (range, 100-800 mL), and the median duration of pleural cavity closed drainage was 5 days (range, 3-7 days). All open lobectomies were completed successfully, and the median intraoperative blood loss was 445 mL (range, 150-950 mL) and the median duration of pleural cavity closed drainage was 5 days (range, 3-9 days). No statistically significant differences were found between the groups with respect to operation completion rates, type of lung resection, intraoperative blood loss, closed pleural drainage duration and volume of postoperative chest drainage. The operation time, number of postoperative complications, postoperative pain index at 24 hours after surgery and postoperative hospital stay were all significantly less in the VATS group. With a median follow-up duration of 14 months (range, 8-18 months) no positive sputum examination results were found in either group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  VATS lobectomy is an effective and minimally invasive method for treating patients with pulmonary TB.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University/Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing 101149, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University/Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing 101149, China.
authors.forename: Dezhi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhen
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University/Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing 101149, China.
authors.forename: Zhidong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University/Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing 101149, China.
authors.forename: Shaofa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University/Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing 101149, China.
authors.forename: Shuku
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University/Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing 101149, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University/Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing 101149, China.
authors.forename: Shijie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University/Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing 101149, China.
authors.forename: Daping
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University/Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing 101149, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University/Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing 101149, China.
authors.forename: Yunsong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University/Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing 101149, China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University/Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing 101149, China.
authors.forename: Chongyu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University/Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing 101149, China.
authors.forename: Kang
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shi
keywords: Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS); lobectomy; lung; pulmonary; tuberculosis (TB)