Is Bilateral Staged Muscle-Sparing Thoracotomy Performed within 1 Week for Lung Hydatid Cysts Safe for Pediatric Patients?

Abstract

Median sternotomy or staged thoracotomies are generally the preferred surgical treatment options for bilateral lung hydatid cysts. According to literature, it is usually recommended to wait from 3 weeks to 3 months between bilateral staged thoracotomies. The aim of this study is to compare postoperative complications, hospitalization days and morbidity and mortality ratios between unilateral thoracotomy and bilateral staged thoracotomy groups and to evaluate the safety of performing bilateral staged thoracotomy within 1 week for lung hydatid cysts in pediatric patients. In total, 112 patients under the age of 16 years who underwent surgery between 2000 and 2016 because of pulmonary hydatid cysts were included in this study. The patients were classified into two groups as Group 1 (unilateral muscle-sparing thoracotomy) and Group 2 (bilateral staged muscle-sparing thoracotomy applied within 1 week). There were 91 patients in Group 1 and 21 patients in Group 2. No statistically significant differences were detected when both groups were compared by age, gender, perforation rates, follow-up period and postoperative complications. To prevent hydatid cysts complications, the elapsed time between two thoracotomies should be not only long enough to evaluate the postoperative complications but also relatively short to prevent possible complications that may develop in the other lung. In our opinion, a patient follow-up of 3-7 days between thoracotomies is sufficient for the assessment of patients' clinical status and possible complications.