P1.17-29 8-year Experience of Navigational Bronchoscopy for Preoperative Localization of Subcentimeter Lung Nodules in a Small Community Hospital

Abstract

With the advent of lung cancer screening, CT imaging has led to the identification of sub-centimeter nodules that are challenging to localize for both diagnosis and resection. The traditional approaches are problematic because biopsies often have poor diagnostic yield, resulting in repeat attempts at tissue collection, delay in time to treatment, and increased cost. Electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy (ENB) is a newer technology that allows greater precision in preoperative localization of nodules to obtain tissue for diagnosis and fiducial marker placement. Our institution has adopted a practice that combines simultaneous ENB for nodule localization and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for resection with single anesthetic administration and operating room team. We aimed to evaluate changes in time to treatment, time to surgery, and length of stay. Retrospective review of all patients who underwent nodule localization and VATS or robotic-assisted VATS (RATS) between (May 2011- March 2019). ENB localization was performed with transbronchial injection of ICG and/or placement of gold fiducial markers. A total of 72 patients underwent VATS or RATS. During the first two years of the study period, ENB was performed with portable C-arm fluoroscopic guidance with diagnostic yield of 48%. Surgery was performed on average 29.7 days (4-190 days) after ENB (3 patients had non-diagnostic bronchoscopy and were followed with serial CT scans that resulted in >100 days until surgery). In August 2017 utilization of Cone Beam CT scan began during ENB, which resulted in reduction in time to surgery to average of 20.1 days (1-39 days). After persistent low diagnostic yield with bronchoscopy and demand for expedient diagnosis, in February 2018, ENB and surgical resection were performed simultaneously with single anesthetic administration and OR team. Furthermore, in December 2018 utilization of daVinci Xi robot began for RATS with ICG injection during ENB for intraoperative localization of nodules. The hospital length of stay (LOS) and time to treatment (from the initial identification of a lung nodule to surgery) for Super D bronchoscopy group (SDB) (n=36) is 5.7/63.8 days, SDB-with cone beam technology (n=8) is 4.5/62.8 days, respectively. Transition to simultaneous resection (n=28) resulted in 100% diagnostic yield, further decrease of both hospital LOS and time to treatment, to 3.6 days and 43.7 days, respectively. Our data demonstrates that intraoperative ENB lung lesion localization with simultaneous VATS/RATS resection results in decreased hospital length of stay, reduced time to treatment, and 100% diagnostic yield. Both metrics significantly impact patient satisfaction and healthcare costs.