A Case Report of Delayed Hemothorax Complicated by Fibrothorax

Delayed hemothorax is a potentially life-threatening complication of thoracic trauma that should be carefully considered in all patients presenting with thoracic injury. We report a case of delayed hemothorax in a 77-year-old male presenting eleven days’ status post multiple right mid- to high-rib fractures. His case was complicated by retained hemothorax after CT-guided chest-tube with subsequent video-assisted tube thoracostomy (VATS) revealing fibrothorax necessitating conversion to open thoracotomy. Known risk factors for development of delayed hemothorax include older patient age, three or more rib fractures, and presence of mid- to high-rib fractures, and should be used in risk stratification of thoracic trauma. Tube thoracostomy is often sufficient in management of delayed hemothorax. In rare cases, hemothoraces can be complicated by retained hemothorax or fibrothorax, which require more invasive therapy and carry greater morbidity and mortality.

Percutaneous balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty in a young lady with coexisting repaired patent ductus arteriosus

An asymptomatic woman aged 24 years was informed about the presence of a heart murmur by her attending obstetrician while she was hospitalised for a spontaneous abortion 6 months ago and was subsequently referred to us to rule out underlying heart disease. After clinical examination and relevant laboratory evaluation, a diagnosis of severe valvular pulmonary stenosis (PS) was established. Interestingly, our patient had undergone an open thoracotomy for surgical closure of a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) under general anaesthesia 12 years ago in the absence of any appreciable shunt across the ligated ductus at present. Considering the severe gradient across her pulmonary valve, she underwent a successful percutaneous balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty (PBPV) procedure with excellent haemodynamic outcome. The pertinent literature concerning the rare combination of PDA in association with PS as well as the technicalities of PBPV procedure in an adult are discussed.

Open thoracotomy and decortication for chronic empyema thoracis: Our experience

Empyema thoracis is defined as the presence of pus in the pleural space or a purulent pleural effusion. Chronic empyema is characterized by thickened visceral and parietal peels, which hamper the ability of the affected lung to re-expand and require definitive surgical intervention. In a resource constraint environment like ours, open thoracotomy and decortication is the treatment of choice. We review our experience with cases of chronic empyema thoracis that had thoracotomy and decortication. This is a descriptive, retrospective, and observational study. Medical records of patients who had thoracotomy and decortication on account of chronic empyema thoracis in the Cardiothoracic surgery unit of our hospital between 2012 and 2020 were retrieved and reviewed. The information obtained from the records included sex, age, premorbid conditions, aetiology of empyema, cultures of pleural fluids, histology results of the cortex removed, duration of chest tube drainage, duration of hospital stay, postoperative complications, and outcome. One hundred and eighty-five patients diagnosed with empyema thoracis were seen in the study period. Sixty-five patients had thoracotomy and decortication on account of chronic empyema thoracis while the remaining 120 (64.9%) had closed tube thoracostomy drain insertion. Male: female was 5:1, mean age at presentation 24.24 years with age ranging from 2 years to 70 years. Fourteen (23.33%) were in the paediatric age group while the remaining (76.67%) were adults. The aetiology of empyema was pneumonia in 36 (60%). Strept pneumoniae was the commonest organism isolated from pleural fluids of these patients accounting for 23.33%. All patients underwent thoracotomy and decortication. The mean duration before surgery was 17 days with a range of 2 days to 40 days. The average duration of surgery was 2 hours. Chest tube was removed after an average of 7 days (range 5 to 33 days. Twenty-one patients (35%) had complications. The average duration of drainage was 18.87 days and that of hospital stay was 36.74 days. There were 3 mortalities (5%). The mean duration of follow-up was 3 months. Chronic empyema thoracis is still common in our environment and presentation is usually very late. In our series, open thoracotomy and decortication was found to be an excellent procedure with low morbidity and mortality. The majority of our patients had good functional outcome with few complications.

Surgical Outcomes After Neoadjuvant Chemoimmunotherapy for Resectable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

BackgroundNeoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy for resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) represents an important research topic. Despite the potential benefits of this approach, the inflammatory responses and adverse events associated with neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy can present technical challenges and compromise a planned resection. This study assessed the safety and feasibility of neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy followed by surgery for resectable NSCLC.MethodsThe study was conducted from May 2019 to March 2021. Patients who were age 18 years or older, were diagnosed with stage Ib–IIIb NSCLC, and received neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy followed by surgery were included. Demographic information, clinical and pathologic characteristics, data about neoadjuvant therapy, and surgical details were collected by retrospective chart review. Toxicity profiles were collected retrospectively or by telephone follow-up.ResultsTwenty patients were included in this study. The median age was 56 years (range, 48–72 years), and 18 patients (90%) were men. Squamous carcinoma (14/20, 70%) was the most common cancer type, followed by adenocarcinoma (4/20, 20%), adenosquamous carcinoma (1/20, 5%), and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (1/20, 5%). All patients received two to four cycles of neoadjuvant therapy, and the median interval between final therapy and surgery was 49 days (range, 23–133 days). Computed tomography evaluation after neoadjuvant therapy showed partial response in 15 patients (75%) and stable disease in 5 (25%). Final pathologic examinations showed major pathologic response in eight patients, including pathologic complete response in five (25%). Most patients (18/20, 90%) had reduced pathologic staging. Twelve patients (60%) underwent open thoracotomy; the other eight patients underwent minimally invasive surgery, which was uneventful and without intraoperative conversion to open thoracotomy. No perioperative deaths occurred, and only seven patients (35%) developed postoperative complications. Most patients experienced only grade 1–2 adverse effects and laboratory abnormalities during neoadjuvant therapy, and no grade 3 or worse adverse effects or laboratory abnormalities occurred. No patients experienced surgical delays as a result of immune-related adverse events.ConclusionsPreoperative administration of chemoimmunotherapy for patients with resectable NSCLC was safe and feasible.

Coagulation Status and Surgical Approach as Predictors of Postoperative Anemia in Patients Undergoing Thoracic Surgery: A Retrospective Study

Objective: Postoperative anemia is a common complication after a major surgery. Our study aims to identify factors that are associated with higher risk of developing postoperative anemia after thoracic surgery.Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 465 patients who underwent pulmonary surgery in 2017 in Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, China. Of them, 191 patients underwent standard open thoracotomy (OT), and 274 patients underwent video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS). A total of 350 patients were diagnosed with postoperative anemia, and 115 patients did not have anemia. Multiple logistic regression was used to compute odds ratios for predicting preoperative anemia.Results: Postoperative anemia was associated with significantly lower weight (p < 0.001) and height (p = 0.022) of the patients, as well as higher prothrombin time (PT), and international normalized ratio (INR) (p = 0.012). Open thoracotomy resulted in a 1.2-fold increase in the incidence of postoperative anemia compared to VATS (p = 0.002). Multiple logistic regression analysis identified INR [OR (95% CI) 24.46 (2.05–292.27; p = 0.012] and surgical approach [OR (95% CI) 0.48 (0.31–0.74); p < 0.001] as predictors of postoperative anemia and postoperative drop in hemoglobin (Hb).Conclusion: Postoperative coagulation status and surgical approach are statistically significant predictors of postoperative anemia in patients undergoing thoracic surgery. International normalized ratio and surgical approach are specifically associated with Hb drop immediately after the surgery.

Intraoperative Lung Ultrasound (ILU) for the Assessment of Pulmonary Nodules

Background: The primary aim of this study was to confirm the validity of intraoperative lung ultrasound (ILU) as a safe and effective method of localization for difficult to visualize pulmonary nodules during Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) and open thoracotomy. The secondary aim was to enhance knowledge on the morphological patterns of presentation of pulmonary nodules on direct ultrasound examination. Materials and methods: 131 patients with lung nodule and indication for surgery were enrolled. All patients underwent pre-operative imaging of the chest, including Chest Computed Tomography (CT) and Transthoracic Ultrasound (TUS), and surgical procedures for histological assessment of pulmonary nodules (VATS or open thoracotomy). Results: The identification of 100.00% of lung nodules was allowed by ILU, while the detection rate of digital palpation was 94.66%. It was not possible to associate any specific ILU echostructural pattern to both benign or malignant lesions. However, the actual histological margins of the lesions in the operating samples were corresponding to those visualized at ILU in 125/131 (95.42%) cases. No complications have been reported with ILU employment. Conclusions: In our experience, ILU performed during both open surgery and VATS demonstrated to be a reliable and safe method for visualization and localization of pulmonary nodules non previously assessed on digital palpation. In addition, ILU showed to allow a clear nodule’s margins’ definition matching, in most cases, with the actual histological margins.

958 Encapsulating Peritoneal Sclerosis with Pericardial Tamponade: A Case Report

Aim Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) is a rare morbidity associated primarily with peritoneal dialysis. Definitive diagnosis and management can often be prolonged and complicated. The pathogenesis is a two-hit hypothesis of inflammation and myofibroblast differentiation. This report aims to demonstrate the pathogenesis of EPS and provide insight into management. Method We present a unique case of a patient with EPS who follows a ‘classical’ disease course before developing a concomitant pericardial sclerosis, presenting with cardiac tamponade. We explore the proposed pathophysiology and provide a hypothesis for both uncommon pathologies presenting in the same patient. Results A 45-year-old male was treated for EPS and went on to develop a concomitant pericardial sclerosis. Following referral to our centre, the patient underwent a semi-elective surgical enterolysis and peritonectomy for EPS, with excision of all sclerotic and obstructing peritoneal membrane. Two weeks following the surgery, he developed a pericardial tamponade with cardiovascular compromise, unresolved by two separate episodes of pericardiocentesis, leading to surgical intervention. A pericardial pleural window was created via open thoracotomy and 800ml of thick clotted blood was removed from the pericardial cavity. Histology demonstrated pericardial sclerosis. Conclusions This case of EPS is unique given the concomitant pericardial sclerosis. Uraemia may be a common mediator of inflammation in the peritoneum and pericardium, predisposing to sclerosis of both membranes of identical embryological origin. Pericardial sclerosis may be present in EPS patients but may not manifest itself clinically by and large. It also demonstrates that effective surgical intervention can lead to excellent patient outcomes.

The Role of Mınımally Invasive Surgery in Management of Chest Trauma

The role of minimal invasive surgery in management of chest trauma should not be underestimated. The amount of data for video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) management in chest-trauma patient is rare. Nevertheless the on-going acceptance and use of VATS for major thoracic resections has led to advanced techniques for management of major bleedings in the elective-surgery-patient. VATS as a procedure for pleural space management in the non-critical, non-massive-transfusion patients can be of great assistance. Its value in persistent non-major-vessel-bleeding hemothorax in terms of pleural space debridement is unchallenged. In some cases VATS is considered to be related to lower ARDS-rates in comparison to open thoracotomy patients, whereby an obvious bias for the non-massive-injury-patients exist. Jin et al. could prove a significant advantage for stable thoracic trauma patients treated through VATS in a randomised trial vs. open thoracotomy.

Role of Minimal Invasive Thoracic Surgery in Thai Lung Cancer Patients

Objective: To assess the outcome of minimal invasive surgery in terms of intra and post-operative complication, length of tube duration, hospital stay, and cost-effective in lung resection of Thai urban population that underwent video assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and open thoracotomy (OT). Materials and Methods: The present study was a retrospective cohort between 2006 and 2019. One hundred seventy-eight patients underwent pulmonary resection. All patients were diagnosed either primary or secondary lung cancer. All medical records were collected at Vajira Hospital. All various factors were analyzed to evaluate an outcome between both groups. Results: One hundred nineteen patients were performed by VATS, whereas 59 patients were performed by OT. Tube duration and length of hospital stay were shorter in VATS groups with five days versus seven days (p=0.001) and six days versus eleven days (p=0.001). The operative time was longer and more blood loss in OT groups compare to VATS groups with 180 minutes versus 70 minutes (p=0.001) and 100 mL versus 20 mL (p=0.001). In post-operative outcome, there was no difference in terms of arrhythmia, pneumonia, and 30 days mortality. However, there were slightly higher cost during hospital stay in VATS compared to OT at 3,329.9 USD versus 2,685.7 USD (p=0.001). Conclusion: VATS is associated with shorter length of tube duration, hospital stay, and less blood loss with no difference of post-operative outcome in lung cancer patients. Keywords: Video assisted thoracoscopic surgery; cancer; open thoracotomy

Uniportal thoracoscopic surgery for difficult late stage empyema: Case series

Early, aggressive, and minimally invasive approach is an advanced surgical approach for chronic empyema management. The traditional video-assisted technique is considered superior over open thoracotomy for empyema management; however, with further modification, the uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (UVATS) has greater advantage for surgeons, providing better anatomical view of target tissues, allowing bimanual instrumentation similar to open approach, and nullifying the creation of dihedral angle by instruments that are not favorable in traditional VATS. The present case series describes different clinical scenarios including chronic empyema secondary to traumatic hemothorax, recurrent tubercular empyema following postoperative open decortication, and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus chronic empyema in pediatric patient, which are effectively managed with UVATS approach.