Thoracic surgery in a tertiary care institute-Our experience of 4 years

Abstract

Background: Thoracic Surgery is undertaken for a variety of acquired or congenital intra-thoracic lesions. In India majority of elective thoracic surgical procedures include decortication for empyema, lung resection surgery for benign lung diseases like bronchiectasis, Aspergilloma and benign lung tumors and resection of mediastinal tumors. In India operable bronchogenic carcinomas are very few due to delayed diagnosis. In the last few years due to early diagnosis and treatment, incidence of major complications of intra thoracic infection and empyema have decreased in India. Objectives of our study were to find out the most commonly performed thoracic surgical procedures and major post operative complications including immediate post-operative mortality in a tertiary care institute. Methodology: This was a retrospective record based study. All elective thoracic surgeries conducted by the thoracic surgery department at A.J. Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre, Mangaluru from August 2011 to July 2015 were included in the study. Cardiovascular surgeries, bowel and esophageal surgeries and all emergency thoracic procedures secondary to trauma were excluded from the study. Results: Data analysis was done based on frequency distribution. Total cases were 70 which included 52 males and 18 Females. Male to Female ratio was 3:1. Most common surgical procedure was decortication for empyema, 17 cases (24.2%). Majority of the decortications, 12 cases (70.5%) were right sided. Second most common procedure was Lobectomy, 14 cases (20%). The most common lobe resected was left upper lobe, 7 cases (42.8%). Mediastinal mass lesion excision surgeries were13 (18.6%). There were 6(8.5%) pneumonectomies, all of which were left sided. All pneumonectomies were done for post-tubercular destroyed lung. Average post-operative stay in intensive care unit was 2 days. Average post operative hospital stay was 9 days. Immediate post-operative complications occurred in