Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 10, 2025

Subcostal Specimen Removal in Completely Portal Robotic Lobectomy
Published on: April 19, 2024
Mimicking Contralateral Pneumothorax during Thoracoscopic Bullectomy Associated with Intraoperative Hyperinflation of
Kei Matsubara1, Yuho Maki1, Yutaka Hirano1
1Department of Thoracic Surgery, Hiroshima City Hiroshima Citizens Hospital.
Abstract:
A 55-year-old obese Japanese male with left pneumothorax presented to our hospital. Bilateral pulmonary emphysema was confirmed. Persistent air leakage was observed, and a thoracoscopic bullectomy was performed. Although the thoracoscopic bullectomy was completed uneventfully, pre-extubation chest X-ray imaging indicated hyper-lucency occupying the right upper part of the thoracic cavity, suggesting right-sided pneumothorax. CT imaging indicated a right-upper-lobe expanded bulla. Extubation was performed, and the hyperinflated bulla gradually deflated. Careful management of bulla expansion and respiratory status may be necessary for patients with obesity and large bullae, especially in one-lung ventilation cases.
Related Concept Videos
Pneumothorax-II
Clinical Manifestations:
Pneumothorax-I
Pneumothorax can be even further classified as spontaneous, traumatic, and tension pneumothorax.
Pleura of the Lungs
Endoscopic Studies II: Thoracocentesis
Description
Excess pleural fluid or air may accumulate in some respiratory disorders in the thoracic cavity. To treat pleural effusion, a physician conducts thoracentesis by carefully piercing the chest wall and entering...

