title: Characteristics of the patients undergoing surgical treatment for pneumothorax: A descriptive study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the characteristic features of pneumothorax patients treated surgically.
  
  
  METHODS
  The retrospective study was conducted at Gazi Yasargil Education and Research Hospital Thoracic Surgery Clinic, Diyarbakir, Turkey and comprised records of pneumothorax patients from January 2004 to December 2014. They were divided into two groups as spontaneous and traumatic. Patients who had not undergone any surgical intervention were excluded. Mean age, gender distribution, location of the disease, type of pneumothorax, and treatment method were noted. Among patients with spontaneous pneumothorax, age and months distribution, smoking habits, pneumothorax size, and treatment method were assessed. The effect of gender, location, comorbid disease, smoking, subgroup of disease, and pneumothorax size on surgical procedures were also investigated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of the 672 patients in the study was 34.5±6.17 years. There were 611(91%) men and 61(9%) women. Disease was on the right side in 360(53.6%) patients, on the left side in 308(45.8%), and bilateral in 4(0.59%). Besides, 523(77.8%) patients had spontaneous, and 149(22.7%) had traumatic pneumothorax. Overall, 561(83.5%) patients had been treated with tube thoracostomy, whereas 111(16.5%) were treated with thoracotomy/thoracoscopic surgery. The presence of comorbid diseases, being primary, and being total or subtotal according to partial were found to create predisposition to thoracotomy/ thoracoscopic surgery (p<0.05 each).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the case of pneumothorax being total, the presence of comorbid diseases, and the increase in pneumothorax size, thoracotomy or thoracoscopic surgery is preferred.
authors.affiliation: Gazi Yasargil Education and Research Hospital, Emergency Medicine Clinic, Diyarbakir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Muharrem
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cakmak
authors.affiliation: Gazi Yasargil Education and Research Hospital, Emergency Medicine Clinic, Diyarbakir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Melih
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yuksel
authors.affiliation: Gazi Yasargil Education and Research Hospital, Emergency Medicine Clinic, Diyarbakir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet Nail
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Kandemir
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013906:Thoracoscopy; D013908:Thoracotomy
keywords: Pneumothorax, Tube thoracostomy, Thoracotomy, Thoracoscopy.