[Suggesting the Significance of Pericardial Fat Pad in Bronchial Stump Fistula]

Bronchial stump fistula is a post-operative complication with poor outcome after pulmonary lobectomy. In order to prevent this complication, the bronchial stump is covered with pericardial fat tissue in our hospital. The case was 58 year old male who received adjuvant chemotherapy after sigmoidectomy for sigmoid colon cancer. As he developed multiple pulmonary metastases, 48 courses of chemotherapy were performed. The lesions had been localized at the right lower lobe, and neither increase in the size of these lesions nor development of other lesions were observed. Hence, an operation was performed. After right lower lobectomy, the bronchial stump was covered with the pericardial fat tissue. Three months after the operation, he developed pneumothorax, and bubbles were detected inside the fat. The pneumothorax was cured conservatively, and the bubbles disappeared spontaneously after 10 months. It is rare that the patient with bubbles in the covering tissue observed for a long time is cured conservatively, suggesting the significance of the stump pad.