Video-assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery For Diagnosis Research Articles

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

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

Value of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculoma: 53 cases analysis and review of literature

Tuberculoma of the lung is one of manifestations in tuberculosis and usually presents as a solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN). It is difficult to differentiate tuberculoma from SPN by other benign or malignant diseases. At present, the crucial role of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) in diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary diseases has been well acknowledged. Here, we reported 53 patients undergoing VATS resection for tuberculomas in our series. No postoperative mortality was found and only two patients experienced prolonged air-leakage (>7 d) and two had minor wound infections that were recovered after anti-tuberculosis or antibiotic treatment. Anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy from 6 to 12 months was routinely used postoperatively. We conclude that VATS is a satisfactory tool for the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculoma and can also establish a reliable diagnosis for all patients with SPNs.

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for diagnosis, staging, and management of lung cancer with suspected mediastinal lymphadenopathy.

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for diagnosis, staging, and management of lung cancer with suspected mediastinal lymphadenopathy.

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for diagnosis, staging, and management of lung cancer with suspected mediastinal lymphadenopathy.

The aim of this report was to evaluate the effectiveness of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) in staging, diagnosis, and treatment of lung cancer. Fifty-two patients were scheduled for mediastinal lymph node VATS biopsy at the Oncologic Thoracic Surgery Department of the National Cancer Institute in Milan. Fifty patients underwent lymph nodal thoracoscopic biopsy (96%), whereas for the other 2 patients, histologic diagnosis was done by pleural metastatic nodule thoracoscopic biopsy (4%). We performed 17 lymph nodal biopsies in level 5 (33%), 14 in level 6 (27%), 12 in level 7 (23%), and 7 in level 8 (13%). No postoperative complications were observed, and 19 subjects (36%) underwent open lung resection. The histologic diagnosis was adenocarcinoma in 25 cases (48%), epidermoid carcinoma in 14 (27%), microcytoma in 9 (17%), and giant-cell lung carcinoma in 4 (8%); 10 patients were at stage I (19%), 9 at stage II (17%), 31 at stage III (60%), and 2 at stage IV (4%). The use of VATS allowed diagnosis of the suspected involved mediastinal lymph nodes in lung cancer patients and obviated the need for painful thoracotomy, enabling accurate staging and thus selection of the optimal treatment.

Thoracoscopic surgery for pulmonary tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis historically was a major impetus for the development of thoracic surgery, and it remains a serious health problem of global proportion. Thoracoscopy was first introduced at the turn of this century for closed chest adhesiolysis as an adjunct to collapse therapy for treatment of tuberculosis. This indication became obsolete with the discovery of streptomycin during the 1940s; and for a long time since then thoracoscopy was used only sporadically for the diagnosis of pleural disease. However, over the last few years, modern video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has provided a new approach to the management of pulmonary tuberculosis. Over the last 5 years we have used VATS for diagnosis or treatment (or both) of 62 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, including 20 pleural biopsies, 8 decortications, 17 wedge lung resections, 8 drainages of empyema, and 9 lobectomies. There was no surgical mortality, and complications were few. We conclude that VATS provides a safe, effective diagnostic modality (pleural biopsy, wedge resections) and therapeutic modality (decortications, drainage of empyema) for selected patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.