Carinal resection and reconstruction for respiratory tumors using Miyamoto's technique

Surgical processes that involve the carina pose a serious challenge to thoracic surgeons. Although techniques to allow resection and reconstruction have been developed, few institutions have accumulated sufficient experience to achieve meaningful results. There is still a debate about the indications and the morbidity and mortality rates for this type of surgery.

We have operated on six patients using a modified version of the tracheobronchial end-to-end and bronchial end-to-side anastomosis technique that was developed by Miyamoto and coworkers and reported in the English-language literature by Yamamoto and associates.

Five patients underwent tracheal sleeve right upper lobectomy, and one underwent carinal resection only with two main bronchi and the trachea. None of the patients we operated on had any postoperative complications.

We concluded that when used with adequate surgical performance this seldom-used technique can be applied safely and provide great benefits in particular cases.