Thoracoscopic anatomic pulmonary segmentectomy for the treatment of congenital lung malformation in children

Lung-sparing surgery has been used to treat congenital lung malformation in children, and segmentectomy has been advocated as a lung-preservation strategy. However, thoracoscopic pulmonary segmentectomy has gained limited popularity considering the complications, the potential for residual lesions, and the technical difficulties associated with this procedure. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the safety and feasibility of pediatric thoracoscopic anatomic pulmonary segmentectomy for the treatment of congenital lung malformations.

We conducted a retrospective review of the medical records of 568 patients who were treated at West China Hospital, Sichuan University, from January 2014 to January 2020. The patients were divided into segmentectomy and lobectomy groups according to the surgical procedures they underwent. Clinical and follow-up outcomes were compared between the two groups.

The segmentectomy and lobectomy groups included 206 and 361 cases, respectively. The mean intraoperative blood loss was significantly higher in the segmentectomy group (6.9 mL vs. 4.5 mL; p = 0.03). The mean surgical time was also significantly longer in the segmentectomy group, (55.6 min vs. 41.5 min; p = 0.018). However, the incidence of complications did not differ significantly between the two groups (2.9% vs. 1.1%, p = 0.21). Patients in both groups did not require reoperation or show residual lesions during hospitalization and follow-up.

Thoracoscopic anatomic pulmonary segmentectomy is a safe and feasible definitive lung-sparing treatment for specific cases of congenital lung malformation, and has a complication rate comparable to that of thoracoscopic lobectomy.