Surgery of massive hemoptysis in pulmonary tuberculosis: immediate and long-term outcomes

To determine the current role of surgery and the risks and operative outcomes in patients with massive hemoptysis caused by pulmonary tuberculosis.

A retrospective review of patients treated in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai Pulmonary Disease Hospital between January 2001 and December 2010 was undertaken. The inclusion criteria were massive hemoptysis defined as expectoration of at least 200 mL of blood on each occasion or more than 600 mL in 24 hours; anatomic major pulmonary resection including lobectomy, bilobectomy, and pneumonectomy; histologic or bacteriologic pulmonary tuberculosis.

Sixty-eight men (76.4%) and 21 women (23.6%) aged 41.3 ± 11.7 years met the criteria. The cumulative amount of bleeding on admission was 558 ± 272 mL. A total of 36 patients (40.4%) underwent an emergency operation and 53 (59.6%) had a delayed operation. The operative morbidity rate was 31.5% (28 of 89) and mortality was 2.2% (2 of 89). Only 2 (2.2%) of the 89 patients had a recurrent episode of hemoptysis. Multivariate analysis showed that patients who received antituberculous therapy before surgery (odds ratio [OR], 0.12; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.04-0.38; P = .0003) had a decreased risk of developing postoperative complications and that patients who underwent an emergency operation (OR, 3.9; 95% CI, 1.29-11.5; P = .0154) had an increased risk.

In the present study, the immediate and long-term outcomes after surgery for patients with massive hemoptysis caused by pulmonary tuberculosis were fairly satisfactory. The morbidity and mortality were also acceptable. However, delayed elective surgery is preferred and emergency surgery should be reserved for patients with persistent life-threatening hemoptysis despite a multidisciplinary intervention.