Role of local anaesthesia video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in diagnosis and treatment of open thoracic trauma

Abstract

Objective To investigate the feasibility and superiority of local anaesthesia video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (LA-VATS) in diagnosis and treatment of open thoracic trauma (OTT).Methods Seventy-eight patients with OTT emergently admitted from February 2007 and June 2012 were randomized into LA-VATS group (n =37) and conventional treatment group (n =41) by the toss of a coin.In the LA-VATS group,further treatment was determined following LA-VATS.Volume of chest tube drainage,duration of chest tube placement,average length of hospital stay,and postoperative complications were measured and compared between groups.Results In the LA-VATS group,23 patients completed LA-VATS and 14 were transferred for simple VATS-assisted mini-thoracotomy under general anesthesia.In the conventional treatment group,24 cases completed debridement and chest drainage and 17 cases were transferred for thoracotomy under general anesthesia.Volume of chest tube drainage [(195.0 ± 150.8) ml/d∶ (480.0 ±212.3)ml/d] (t =-2.675,P ＜0.05),duration of chest tube placement [(2.6 ± 1.4) d∶ (3.8 ± 1.9) d] (t =-2.318,P ＜ 0.05),average length of hospital stay [(6.4 ±2.3) d ∶ (10.9 ± 3.3) d] (t =-2.471,P ＜ 0.05),and incidence rate of postoperative complications (10.8％ ∶22.0％) (x2 =4.132,P ＜0.05) were all significantly different between LA-VATS and conventional treatment groups.Conclusion LA-VATS is safe and feasible for diagnostic exploration and simple treatment of OTT. Key words: Thoracic injuries; Anesthesia, local; Thoracoscope