[Intrapericardial Vessel Management for Lung Cancer Surgery]

Intrapericardial vessel management is one of the necessary techniques for respiratory surgeons. We collected cases that had undergone intrapericardial vessel management for lung cancer, and herein discuss the practical performance and safety of this treatment method. We identified 23 (5.6%) of 413 patients who had undergone lung cancer surgery during the 30-month period from January 2011 to June 2013 at our institution. Twenty cases had large sized tumors near the hilum. Three cases demonstrated severe adhesion in the intrathoracic region due to a previous operation. The lung cancer staging was stage ⅠA in 1 case, stage ⅠB in 4 cases, stage ⅡB in 5 cases, stage ⅢA in 11 cases, stage ⅢB in 1 case, and stage Ⅳ in 1 case. We performed lobectomy in 11 cases, bilobectomy in 6 cases, and pneumonectomy in 6 cases. The average operation time was 366 minutes (137-965). Post operative complications were observed in five cases, including two cases of air-leakage and three cases of arrhythmia. All cases were able to walk on foot at discharge. It is important to clearly understand intrapericardial anatomy in order to carry out successful intrapericadial vessel management.