[Effectiveness of fibrin glue in preventing postoperative pulmonary air leakage]

The authors investigated the effectiveness of fibrin glue in preventing pulmonary air leakage after lung surgery. We first examined 29 patients who underwent pulmonary resection without the use of fibrin glue. On the basis of preoperative spirometry data, these patients were divided into normal respiratory function and poor function groups (%VC < 80% and/or FEV1.0% < 70%), and the duration of postoperative pulmonary air leakage in each group was studied. The duration was 2.2 +/- 1.4 days (mean +/- S.D, n = 18) in the normal group and 5.2 +/- 4.3 days (mean +/- S.D, n = 11) in the poor respiratory function group. The latter values were significantly greater than the former (p < 0.05, unpaired t-test). Then we examined seven patients who underwent lung surgery with the use of fibrin glue. We found that in three patients with normal respiratory function, the air leakage disappeared within one day, and in four patients who had poor respiratory function, the air leakage disappeared in three days. In both respiratory function groups, the air leakage seemed to disappear more quickly with the use of fibrin glue. These results suggest that fibrin glue is effective in preventing pulmonary air leakage.