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.