EXPERIENCE WITH ONE-STAGE BILATERAL VATS FOR SPONTANEOUS PNEUMOTHORAX / 中国内镜杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:Evaluating the operative methods,complication,feasibiltity and safety of one-stage treatment by thoracoscopy for bilateral pneumothorax or pneumothorax combined with contralateral bullae.Methods:21 patients diagnosed as simultaneous bilateral pneumothorax or ipsilateral recurrent pneumothorax with contralateral bullaes received one-stage treatment by bilateral thoracoscopy.Results:all patients received VATS,postoperative complications include prolonged air leak over 4 days(2 cases), reexpansion pulmonary edema (1 case),and one patient required temporarily mechanical ventilation.There were no postoperative death.All patients recovered smoothly.Follow-up time ranges from 7 to 77 months (mean 32.7 months).Compared with the 127 thoracopcopic procedures of unilateral pneumothorax,there's no statistics difference in complications (χ2=1.7247,P＞0.05). Conclusions:one-stage VATS is a safe and effective procedure for bilateral spontaneous pneumothorax or pneumothorax combined with contralateral bullae.