Uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery lobectomy and segmentectomy for pulmonary sequestration

Pulmonary sequestration is a rare disease whose development begins in the embryonic stage. Surgery is the definitive treatment for eliminating respiratory symptoms and preventing complications. Reports of uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy and segmentectomy for pulmonary sequestration are limited in the literature. This study analyzes the perioperative results of the uniportal approach and compared them with those of the multiportal approach for pulmonary sequestration.

We collected a VATS series in a single institute from 2007 to 2017. Adult patients diagnosed with pulmonary sequestration and who had received surgical intervention were included. The use of uniportal VATS began from 2016. The perioperative outcomes for uniportal and multiportal approaches were compared.

A total of 19 patients (7 in the uniportal group and 12 in the multiportal group) were included. VATS segmentectomy was performed significantly more in the uniportal group (P=0.033). Shorter operative time, less intraoperative blood loss, shorter pleural drainage time, and shorter postoperative hospital stay were found for the uniportal group; however, the differences compared with the multiportal group were not significant. There was also no significant difference in perioperative parameters among patients who underwent wedge resection, segmentectomy and lobectomy, respectively. All patients were symptom-free in the follow-up.

The perioperative results for a series of uniportal VATS anatomical resections for pulmonary sequestration were found to be better than those obtained with the multiportal approach. Although a challenging procedure, uniportal VATS segmentectomy can be performed safely for pulmonary sequestration to preserve more healthy pulmonary parenchyma.