Indications and perioperative results of completion pneumonectomy

Abstract

Introduction: Completion pneumonectomy (CP) means the removal of the entire residual lung tissue after previously performed lung resection. Mortality and morbidity of CP are higher when compared to those of standard pneumonectomy. In this article, we give an overview on indications and perioperative results of CP. Method: We analysed the perioperative results of CP performed during a period of 15 years in a retrospective manner, based on the patients' medical records, descriptions of surgeries and histological findings. We divided the indications into three groups: rescue surgery for complications in the early postoperative period (rescue: rCP), incomplete resection verified by histological results (pathological: pCP) and conventional surgeries performed in the late postoperative period (conventional: cCP). We classified the complications according to an international scale. Results: The overall surgery-related morbidity of 102 patients was 70.5% (minor: 36.27%, major: 34.23%), the mortality was 16.6%. There were no lethal complications during the surgical procedures. rCP: 24 patients (18 men, 6 women, 46-77 years, average 61.7 years). Intervals between operations: 10.87 days (0-32 days). Indications: necrosis or abscess formation (8 cases), bronchial fistula (5 cases), insufficient or blocked anastomosis (3 cases), massive haemoptysis (3 cases), intrathoracic bleeding (2 cases), non-expanding lung (3 cases). Overall morbidity: 79.19%. Nine patients died (37.5%). pCP: 7 patients (5 men, 2 women), 45-66 years (average: 56.3 years). Primary surgery: 6 lobectomies, 1 bilobectomy. Intervals between operations: 1-5 months (average: 2.84 months). Three patients did not develop complications, four had anaemia requiring blood transfusion, one empyema requiring fenestration, one died (14.28%) due to intrathoracic bleeding. There were no tumours in the removed lung tissues in cases of four patients. cCP: 71 patients (22 women, 44 men, 29-79 years (average: 60.3 years). Intervals between operations: 34 days - 40 years (average: 6.7 years). Histological findings of the previous surgeries: primary lung tumour (64 patients), metastases of tumours in other organs (1 patient), bronchiectasia (1 patient) and tuberculosis (5 patients). Indications of cCP: late bronchial fistula (2 patients), verified or suspected tumour (65 patients), other (4 patients). Histological findings with primary lung tumour in the patient's history: 32 new tumours, 15 local recurrences, 9 metastases, 2 metastases or recurrences, 7 non-malignant. Histological findings without malignancy in the patient's history: 3 new tumours, 1 tuberculosis and 2 chronic inflammations. Overall morbidity was 76.2%, mortality within 30 days or in the hospital 9.8%. Conclusions: Morbidity and mortality are the highest after rCP, but these patients usually do not have any other chance for healing. We have not performed repeat surgery for incomplete tumour resection in the last 10 years. Comparing our results to the international data, the morbidity after cCP is high, the mortality is similar.