Pulmonary sequestration children: is the thoracoscopic approach a good option?

The thoracoscopic approach for pulmonary sequestration in children seems to be feasible and reproducible. To date, there have been no studies comparing the thoracoscopic approach with the conventional technique in this indication. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare these two approachs.

We performed a retrospective study in patients treated surgically for a prenatal diagnosis of pulmonary sequestration between 2000 and 2003. Three or five ports were used, and single-lung ventilation was required. The clinical, operative, and postoperative data were compared with those for patients operated on during the same period via thoracotomy. For statistical purposes, the children who required conversion to the open proecedure were grouped with those who underwent thoracotomy. The following data were compared: age, and weight, operating time, duration of postoperative drainage via chest tube, duration of postoperative narcotic use, pain scores on the 1(st) and 2(nd) days after the procedure, and length of hospital stay. The Mann-Whitney test was used for statistical analysis.

Five infants were operated on via a thoracoscopic approach. Two required conversion to an open procedure. There were four intralobar sequestrations (ILS) and one extralobar sequestration (ELS). The mean age at surgery was 6.2 months (range, 4-9). The mean operating time, excluding the patients who were converted to open, was 155 min (range, 120-190). In the thoracotomy group, there were one ELS and one ILS. Two groups were defined: the exclusively laparoscopy group (EL) (n = 3) and the thoracotomy and conversion group (TC) (n = 4). The duration of postoperative drainage, duration of postoperative narcotic use, and hospital stay seemed to be shorter in the group EL. These times, respectively, were 3.4 vs 2.75 days, 4.1 vs 3.3 days, and 7.5 vs 4.3 days = (p = 0.03). There were two complications in the TC group (one wound abcess and one pleural leak that required a chest tube).

The thoracoscopic approach for pulmonary sequestration is feasible. It seems to reduce the duration of postoperative drainage, postoperative narcotic use, hospital and stay. These results need to be confirmed by a prospective and more detailed study.