Here at cirugia de torax, we take a keen interest in the development of increasingly minimally invasive technologies from dual (and single-port) thoracoscopy for a variety of conditions to RATS (robot- assisted thoracic surgery). It is our belief that by embracing these emerging technologies, we help to advance the thoracic surgery specialty.
This spring, we have had the pleasure of publishing case reports on dual port thoracoscopy for decortication of parapneumonic effusions and empyema and catching up with one of the leaders in single incision thoracic surgery, Dr. Diego Gonzalez Rivas.
This month, another entry, “A modified two-port thoracoscopic technique versus axillary minithoracotomy for the treatment of recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax: a prospective randomized study,” by Dr. Christophoros N. Foroulis at the Aristotle Medical School in Thessaloniki, Greece was published in Surgical Endoscopy. As noted in a previous post, there have been few (if any) published papers on dual port thoracoscopy, and no comparison studies of these two techniques.
This study, which was conducted during 2006 to 2009 followed 66 patients who were randomly assigned to receive either mini-thoracotomy or dual-port VATS for surgical pleurodesis/ bullectomy / blebectomy.
In this study, despite random assignment, each group of 33 patients were well matched in all characteristics such as age, operative side and BMI. After surgical treatment, patients were followed for a median of 30 months (range 3 – 53 months) for development of late complications or recurrent pneumothorax.
Each treatment group – VATS versus open surgical was overseen by one surgeon with Dr. Foroulis performing all of the dual port surgeries, and Dr. Papakonstantinou performing all of the open procedures. Outcomes were independently reviewed / evaluated by the remaining authors.
Study Findings
– No conversions to open thoracotomy from the VATS group.
– Similar rate of recurrence between open (2.7%) and VATS (3%) group (but timing of recurrence differed.) Both recurrent pneumothoraces in the VATS group occurred early post-operatively (POD#5) compared to the open surgical group – 13 months post-op.
– Rate of complications the same between groups but the type of complications differed. 2 patients in each group required reoperation:
VATS – reoperation for prolonged airleak
Minithoracotomy group – hematomas/ evacuation of clots
Length of stay (LOS) and post-operative pain
Surprisingly, length of stay and post-operative pain – two of the outcomes that are usually cited in favor of minimally invasive procedures – were not significantly different between the groups.
Differences
Patient satisfaction
However, patient satisfaction was significantly higher in the dual port group. This was related to an earlier return to normal activities, and earlier full mobilization of the affected arm.
Longer procedures
VATS procedures were longer than open procedures – by a mean of 21 minutes (87.1 minutes for VATS versus 66.7 minutes for minithoracotomy) with associated increases in uni-lung ventilation time.
Discussion/ Conclusions
While previous studies had reported a recurrence rate that was significantly higher in the VATS group – that was not seen here. The ability to detect blebs/ bullae (and thus treat) with VATS remains limited in comparison to a mini-thoracotomy, but does not appear to change outcomes after a successful pleurodesis procedure. Dual port thoracoscopy does take more time but both procedures appear equally effective.
Reference:
Foroulis, C. N., Anastasiadis, K., Charokopos, N., Antonitisis, P., Halvatzoulis, H. V., Karapanagiotidis, G. T., Grosomanidis, V. & Papakonstantinou, C. (2012). A modified two-port thoracoscopic technique versus axillary minithoracotomy for the treatment of recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax: a prospective randomized study. Surg Endosc 2012 May 12. Includes color photographs of procedures.
Thank you to Dr. Foroulis for your assistance.
For more on related topics:
Case study: spontaneous pneumothorax
About spontaneous pneumothorax
Minimally invasive surgery: SITS
Thoracic Surgery 