Proper management of chest drainage after pulmonary lobectomy is a topic that every thoracic surgeon must face up to. Reasonable chest drainage plays a critical role in postoperative normal physiological recovery. However, there are still controversies and discrepancies in many aspects of chest drainage management after pulmonary lobectomy. In this review,we focus on five aspects of chest drainage management after pulmonary lobectomy,including the choice of chest drainage system,single or double chest tubes,suction or not,treatment of persistent air leak,and removal of chest tube.
Abstract:?Objective?To evaluate clinical outcomes of single utility port complete video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy for patients with early-stage lung cancer.?Methods?We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 162 consecutive patients with early-stage lung cancer who underwent single utility port complete VATS lobectomy from September 2009 to October 2011 in Chinese PLA General Hospital (single utility port group),and compared them with 221 patients with early-stage lung cancer who underwent video-assisted mini-thoracotomy (VAMT) lobectomy in the same period (VAMT group). The clinical outcomes including operation time, intraoperative blood loss, lymph node dissection number, time to first activity out of bed, chest drainage duration and postoperative complications, were compared between the two groups.?Results?No perioperative death was observed in both groups. There were statistical differences in the intraoperative blood loss (162.8±75.6 ml vs. 231.4±62.8 ml), time to first activity out of bed (2.2±0.3 d vs. 3.7±0.5 d) , and chest drainage duration (3.5±0.2 d vs. 4.6±0.4 d) between the two groups (P<0.05). There was no statistical difference in operation time (133.7±22.0 min vs. 124.9±25.7 min) , lymph node dissection number (11.7±1.9 vs. 12.5±2.7), and incidence of serious postoperative complications (7.4% vs. 8.1%)between the two groups.?Conclusion?Single utility port complete VATS lobectomy and lymph node dissection are safe and reliable for patients with early-stage lung cancer with less injury and better postoperative recovery compared with VAMT.
Totally thoracoscopic surgery is a branch of minimally invasive cardiac surgeries, and its operational indicators are expanding with the development of the medical and imaging devices compared with median sternotomy and other minimally invasive cardiac surgeries (such as thoracoscope-assisted small incision surgery and robotic surgery). The learning curve is significantly shortened through the professional technique training. Totally thoracoscopic cardiac surgery has many advantages, such as minor trauma, few serious complications, fast recovery, high patient acceptance and being suitable to our country's current situation. Therefore it will be one main direction of minimally invasive cardiac surgery. This article mainly introduced the current status of totally thoracoscopic technology in the field of cardiac surgery in China.
Treatment of Non-small Cell Lung Cancer by Single-direction Four-hole Complete Video-assisted Thoracoscopic Lobectomy HUANG Jia, ZHAO Xiao-jing, LIN Hao, TAN Qiang, DING Zheng-ping, LUO Qing-quan. (Shanghai Lung Tumor Clinical Medical Center, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai 200030, P. R. China) Corresponding author:LUO Qing-quan, Email:luoqingquan@hotmail. com Abstract: Objective To explore the feasibility and safety of single-direction four-hole video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods Between January 2007 and December 2010, 428 patients with NSCLC were surgically treated by single-direction complete video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy in Shanghai Chest Hospital. There were 186 males and 242 females; aged 33 to 78 years. All the patients were diagnosed as primary NSCLC at early clinical stage. Among the 428 patients, 134 patients underwent right upper lobectomy, 48 patients underwent right middle lobectomy, 98 patients underwent right lower lobectomy, 4 patients underwent right middle and lower lobectomy, 72 patients underwent left upper lobectomy, and 72 patients underwent left lower lobectomy. All the 428 patients were divided into two groups according to their surgical approach:a three-hole group (300 patients) and a four-hole group (128 patients).The clinical results of the two groups were analyzed. Results A total of 412 patients underwent complete video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy, and 16 patients (3.7%) underwent conversion to open surgery. The average operation time was 132.1 (120-180) min, average length of incision was 3.7 (3-5) cm, and average blood loss was 150.0 (50-800) ml. There was no statistical difference in extubation time, intraoperative blood loss, and postoperative hospital stay between the two groups. But the operation time of the four-hole group is significantly shorter than that of the three-hole group (P<0.05). The 16 patients who underwent conversion to open surgery received intraoperative blood transfusion. Five patients died of severe pulmonary infection, pulmonary embolism, and acute cerebral infarction. Fifty two patients had squamous cancer, 340 patients had adenocarcinoma, 20 patients had adenosquamous carcinoma, 8 patients had poorly differentiated carcinoma, 6 patients had big cell lung cancer, and 2 patients had carcinoid. Postoperative persistent lung air leak occurred in 4 patients, thoracic empyema in 2 patients, pulmonary infection in 4 patients, arrhythmia in 26 patients, pulmonary embolism in 2 patients, chylothorax in 2 patients, and acute cerebral infarction in 2 patients. The overall 3-year survival rate was 83.6%(358/428). Conclusion Single-direction four-hole complete video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy is feasible, safe and consistent with the operation standard in the surgical treatment for NSCLC patient. It is also helpful to reduce the operation time and facilitate lymph node dissection. Key words: Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery; Lobectomy; Single-direction; Four-hole; Non-small cell lung cancer