Efficacy of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for 29 patients with tuberculosis-destroyed lung

Incompleteness of interlobar fissures and pleural adhesions, common in tuberculous destroyed lung (TDL), are among "technical contraindications" for video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). The efficacy and safety of VATS in the treatment of TDL, has not yet been detailed in.

The objective of the present study is to observe the efficacy and safety of VATS in the management of TDL.

A retrospective review of anatomic lobectomy by VATS on 29 cases of TDL was performed in the Department of Thoracic Surgery of Wuhan Medical Treatment Center between October 2010 and October 2013.

All the 29 surgeries by VATS were successfully completed. No death case was reported. Operative duration of VATS was 75~400 min, with an average of 185.4 min; intraoperative amount of bleeding ranged 50 to 2300 ml, with an average of 575.6 ml; the incidence of postoperative complication was 21.4% (6/28). Postoperative complications occurred in 6 cases, among which there were 2 cases of persistent postoperative pulmonary air leak, 2 cases of pleural effusion, one case of thoracic hemorrhage and one case of arrhythmia complicated with left heart failure. There was one patient who was converted from VATS to open thoracic surgery half-way.

Our results have shown the efficacy, safety and a breakthrough in the "technical contraindications" of VATS in the management of TDL.