M-tip electro-ablation of pneumo-cysts for treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax as a secondary method to stapling: a confirmation study

We recently established new guidelines for our electro-ablation technique, which has been shown to be a ubiquitous, easy, and cost effective method secondary to stapled resection of pneumo-cysts for the treatment of pneumothorax. The present study was conducted as a confirmation of the effectiveness of this technique.

Between July 1998 and June 2003, 164 consecutive patients with spontaneous pneumothorax underwent surgery. Dependent lesions were resected using staplers. If found, residual lesions were ablated using M-tip electro-ablation (Group M). When the ablated pneumo-cysts were greater than 2 cm in diameter, pleural treatment was carried out by covering the surface with absorbable mesh sheets (Group L).

There were 7 cases (4.2%) of relapse of spontaneous pneumothorax and each underwent another operation due to the relapse. None of the lesions in the relapse cases received electro-ablation in the first operation. Relapse-free cases were 97/103 (94%) in Group N (no ablation group), 48/49 (98%) in Group M, and 12/12 (100%) in Group L (P=0.4).

Our results demonstrated the safety and efficacy of our M-tip electro-ablation technique for pneumo-cysts as a secondary method to stapling. We considered that it was feasible for the treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax.