ABSTRACT
@#Objective To explore the causes of conversion to thoracotomy in patients with minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) in a surgical team, and to obtain a deeper understanding of the timing of conversion in MIE. Methods The clinical data of patients who underwent MIE between September 9, 2011 and February 12, 2022 by a single surgical team in the Department of Thoracic Surgery of the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University were retrospectively analyzed. The main influencing factors and perioperative mortality of patients who converted to thoracotomy in this group were analyzed. Results In the cohort of 791 consecutive patients with MIE, there were 520 males and 271 females, including 29 patients of multiple esophageal cancer, 156 patients of upper thoracic cancer, 524 patients of middle thoracic cancer, and 82 patients of lower thoracic cancer. And 46 patients were converted to thoracotomy for different causes. The main causes for thoracotomy were advanced stage tumor (26 patients), anesthesia-related factors (5 patients), extensive thoracic adhesions (6 patients), and accidental injury of important structures (8 patients). There was a statistical difference in the distribution of tumor locations between patients who converted to thoracotomy and the MIE patients (P<0.05). The proportion of multiple and upper thoracic cancer in patients who converted to thoracotomy was higher than that in the MIE patients, while the proportion of lower thoracic cancer was lower than that in the MIE patients. The perioperative mortality of the thoracotomy patients was not significantly different from that of the MIE patients (P=1.000). Conclusion In MIE, advanced-stage tumor, anesthesia-related factors,extensive thoracic adhesions, and accidental injury of important structures are the main causes of conversion to thoracotomy. The rate varies at different tumor locations. Intraoperative conversion to thoracotomy does not affect the perioperative mortality of MIE.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND@#Video assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) is the main surgical method for lung cancer. The aim of this study was to analyze the reasons for conversion to thoracotomy in 83 cases among 1,350 consecutive cases who underwent video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) lobectomy by a single surgical team, in order to achieve a deeper understanding of the rules and the opportunity for conversion to thoracotomy in VATS lobectomy under normal conditions.@*METHODS@#The clinical data of 1,350 patients who underwent VATS lobectomy between September 21, 2009 and June 1, 2020, by a single surgical team in the Fifth Department of Thoracic Surgery of the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University were retrospectively analyzed. There were 773 males and 577 females, aged 8-87 years, with a median age of 61.3 years, including 83 cases of benign diseases, 38 cases of lung metastases, and 1,229 cases of primary lung cancer. The cases with stage I, II and IIIa were 676, 323 and 230, respectively. The cases of left upper, left lower, right upper, right middle, right lower, right middle and upper and right middle and lower lobectomy were 301 (22.30%), 231 (17.11%), 378 (28.00%), 119 (8.81%), 262 (19.41%), 16 (1.19%) and 43 (3.19%), respectively.@*RESULTS@#In the cohort of 1,350 consecutive patients with VATS lobectomy, 83 patients (6.15%) were converted to thoracotomy for different reasons. The conversion rate of benign lesions was significantly higher than that of malignant tumors (P<0.05). The conversion rate in stage IIIa was significantly higher than that in stage I and II (P<0.05). The conversion rate of combined lobectomy was significantly higher than that of single lobectomy (P=0.001). The conversion rate of left upper lobectomy was significantly higher than that of other single lobectomy (P<0.001). The conversion rate of right middle lobectomy was significantly lower than that of other single lobectomy (P=0.049). The main reasons for conversion were vascular injury (38.55%), lymph node interference (26.51%) and dense adhesion in thoracic cavity (16.87%). In the conversion group, the total operation time was (236.99±66.50) min and the total blood loss was (395.85±306.38) mL. The operation time in patients converted to thoracotomy due to lymph node interference was (322.50±22.68) min, which was significantly longer than that in the other groups (P<0.05). The intraoperative blood loss in patients converted to thoracotomy due to vascular injury was (560.94±361.84) mL, which was significantly higher than that in the other groups (P<0.05). With the increase in surgical experience, the number of vascular injuries gradually decreased at the early stage, mid-stage and late stage (P=0.045).@*CONCLUSIONS@#In VATS lobectomy, benign lung lesions and more advanced malignant tumors led to more surgical difficulties and higher conversion rate. The conversion rate was different in different lobectomy sites, with the highest in left upper lobectomy, and the lowest in right middle lobectomy. Vascular injury, lymph node interference and dense adhesion were the main reasons for conversion to thoracotomy, which led to prolonged operation time and increased blood loss. With the increasing number of surgical cases, the rate of conversion to thoracotomy in VATS lobectomy continues to decline, which may be mainly due to the more advanced treatment of pulmonary vessels.
ABSTRACT
Objective Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery is widely used in clinical practice,due to the characteristics of minimal invasion,quick recovery,low incidence of postoperative chest pain and the same effect of lobectomy as thoracotomy.However,the surgical itself has a certain degree of difficulty,and due to the effect of lymph node,intraoperative blood loss,pleural adhesions,conversion to thoracotomy surgery is needed in some cases. Understanding the risk factors of conversion to thoracotomy can help thoracic surgeons figure out the right time to operate the surgery.
ABSTRACT
@#Objective To explore the risk factors and short-term clinical effect of conversion to open thoracotomy during thoracoscopic lobectomy for lung cancer patients. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 423 lung cancer patients who were scheduled for thoracoscopic lobectomy between March 2011 and November 2015.There were 252 males and 171 females at median age of 60 (24-83) years. According to the patients who were and were not converted to thoracotomy, they were divided into a conversion group (378 patients) and a video-assisted thoracic surgery group (a VATS group, 45 patients). Then, clinical data of two groups were compared, and the risk factors and short-term clinical effect of unplanned conversions to thoracotomy were analyzed. Results Lymph nodes of hilar or/and interlobar fissure closely adhered to adjacent vessels and bronchi was the most common cause of unexpected conversions to thoracotomy in 15 patients (33.3%), followed by sleeve lobectomy in 11(24.4%) patients, uncontrolled hemorrhage caused by intraoperative vessel injury in 8 patients, tumor invasion or extension in 5 patients, difficulty of exposing bronchi in 3 patients, close adhesion of pleural in 2 patients, incomplete interlobar fissure in 1 patient. Conversion did translate into higher overall postoperative complication rate (P=0.030), longer operation time (P<0.001), more intraoperative blood loss (P<0.001). In the univariable analysis, the type of operation, the anatomical site of lung cancer, the lymph node enlargement of hilar in CT and the low diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) were related to conversion. Logistic regression analysis showed that the independent risk factors for conversion were sleeve lobectomy (OR=5.675, 95%CI 2.310–13.944, P<0.001), the lymph node enlargement of hilar in CT (OR=3.732, 95%CI 1.347–10.341, P=0.011) and DLCO≤5.16 mmol/(min·kPa)(OR=3.665, 95%CI 1.868–7.190, P<0.001). Conclusions Conversion to open thoracotomy during video-assisted thoracic surgery lobectomy for lung cancer does not increase mortality, and it is a measure of reducing the risk of surgery. Therefore, with high-risk patients who may conversion to thoracotomy, the surgeon should be careful selection for VATS candidate. And, if necessary, the decision to convert must be made promptly to reduce short-term adverse outcome.