Results of treatment for mediastinal tumors by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) in Viet Duc Hospital

ABSTRACT

Background: Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is a now new, effective approach in diagnosis and treatment of thoracic diseases. Objective: To summarize and evaluate the results of VATS for mediastinal tumors. Subjects and method: A retrospective study included patients with mediastinal tumors who performed VATS in Viet Duc Hospital from March 2006 to August 2007. The measurements about age, sex, hospital-admitted reasons, tumor\u2019s size and location, outcomes and complications were analysed. Results: There were sixteen patients, included 9 males and 7 females. The patients\ufffd?average age was 35.3 years (ranged from 16 to 72 years). Clinical characteristics of mediastinal tumors were chest pain (11 cases), trouble breathing (4 cases), cough (2 cases). CT scanner detected mediastinal tumors in all patients (16 cases). Pathologically, 15 patients had benign tumors and only one had malignant tumor. The average time for postoperative drainage withdrawal was 3.0625 days (ranged from 2 to 5 days). The average time of hospital stay was 5 days (ranged from 3 to 11 days). There was no postoperative complication. Conclusion: VATS for mediastinal tumors obtained good outcomes. This was a selective method with many advantages for mediastinal tumors.