Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery vs. Thoracotomy for the Treatment in Patients With Esophageal Leiomyoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Surgical treatment is usually suitable for patients with esophageal leiomyoma. Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) offers a minimally invasive approach to thoracotomy. However, there is no clear conclusion on whether VATS can achieve an equal or even better surgical effect when compared with the traditional open approach in the treatment of esophageal leiomyoma. We performed this meta-analysis to explore and compare the outcomes of VATS vs. thoracotomy for patients with esophageal leiomyoma.Methods: PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Medline, and Web of Science databases were searched for full-text literature citations. The quality of the articles was evaluated using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale and the data were analyzed using the Review Manager 5.3 software. Fixed or random effect models were applied according to heterogeneity.Results: A total of 8 studies with 290 patients, of whom 141 patients were in the VATS group and 149 in the thoracotomy group, were involved in the analysis. Compared with thoracotomy, VATS was associated with shorter operative time, less blood loss in operation, and shorter postoperative hospital stay. There is no significant difference in postoperative pleural drainage day and postoperative complications between the two groups.Conclusions: VATS has more advantages over thoracotomy, indicating that VATS is better than thoracotomy in terms of postoperative recovery. We look forward to more large-sample, high-quality studies published in the future.

Effects of Non-intubated Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery on Patients With Pulmonary Dysfunction

Background: Non-intubated video-assisted thoracic surgery (NIVATS) can be safely performed in lung volume reduction surgery for patients with severe pulmonary dysfunction. However, there is still no cohort observation on the effects of NIVATS on patients with pulmonary dysfunction undergoing different types of thoracic procedures. This retrospective study aimed to observe the effects of NIVATS for this kind of patients.Methods: Three hundred and twenty-eight patients with moderate to severe obstructive pulmonary dysfunction, who underwent video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS), were retrospectively collected from June 1st, 2017 to September 30th, 2019. Patients in NIVATS were case-matched with those in intubated video-assisted thoracic surgery (IVATS) by a propensity score-matched analysis. The primary outcome was the comparison of perioperative values, the secondary outcome was the risk factors for postoperative clinical complications (PCP) which were identified by binary logistic regression analysis.Results: After being matched, there were no differences in demographics and preoperative values of pulmonary function between NIVATS and IVATS groups. The duration of surgery and anesthesia had no difference (P = 0.091 and P = 0.467). As for the postoperative recovery, except for the mean intensive care unit (ICU) stay was longer in the IVATS group than in the NIVATS group (P = 0.015), the chest tube removal time and the postoperative hospital stay had no difference (P = 0.394 and P = 0.453), and the incidence of PCP also had no difference (P = 0.121). The binary logistic regression analysis revealed that the history of pulmonary disease, anesthesia method, and surgical location were risk factors of PCP.Conclusion: For patients with pulmonary dysfunction when undergoing different types of thoracic procedures, the NIVATS can be performed as effectively and safely as the IVATS, and can reduce the ICU stay.

CT Guided Placement of the End of the Microcoil in the Pleural Cavity: A More Helpful Method for Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS) Resection of Ground Glass Opacity (GGO)

Objective To investigate and summarize the effectiveness and safety of CT guided microcoil localization before video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) for the removal of ground glass opacity (GGO).Method 147 patients with GGO who were treated in our hospital from January 2019 to February 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. They were divided into two groups according to the final position of the end of the microcoil, intracavity group (n=78) and extracavity group (n=69). Comparison of the two groups of patients with puncture complications, and the influence of the end position of the coil for VATS.Results The proportion of supine and prone position in the intracavity group was significantly higher than that in the extracavity group (82.1% vs. 66.7%, P<0.05). The incidence of intrapulmonary hemorrhage, chest pain and coil displacement in the intracavitary group was significantly lower than that in the extracavitary group (28.2% vs. 46.4%; 19.2% vs. 39.1%;1.3% vs. 11.6%, P<0.05), and the incidence of pneumothorax had no significant difference(P>0.05). The time of VATS and the rate of conversion to thoracotomy in the intracavity group were significantly lower than those in the extracavity group (103.4±21.0min vs. 112.2±17.3min, 0% vs. 5.8%, P<0.05).Conclusion CT-guided placement of the microcoil was a very practical, simple and convenient localization method before VATS with high success rate and few complications, further more, it was a better method to place the end of the coil in the pleural cavity because of the lower complication rate, shorter VATS time and lower rate of thoracotomy conversion.

Ultrasound-guided Serratus Anterior Plane Block Versus Thoracic Paravertebral Block on Alleviating the Acute and Chronic Pain Following the Video-assisted Thoracic Surgery: a Prospective, Randomized, Double-blinded Non-inferiority Clinical Trial

Background: The anesthetic efficacy of ultrasound-guided serrate anterior plane block (SAPB) on alleviating postoperative acute and chronic pain has been well concerned. The present study aims to compare the efficacy between ultrasound-guided SAPB and thoracic paravertebral block (PVB) on alleviating both acute pain and chronic pain following the video-assisted thoracic surgery. Methods: It was a prospective, randomized, double-blinded non-inferiority clinical trial involving 99 patients with lung nodules receiving video-assisted thoracic surgery with ultrasound-guided SAPB (SAPB group) or PVB (PVB group) on T4 and T7 vertebra using 0.375% ropivacaine at 2 mg/kg. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores at both rest and cough at 24 h postoperatively were graded as the primary outcome. Besides, secondary outcomes included the incidence of chronic pain at 3 and 6 months postoperatively, VAS scores at rest and cough at 1, 6, 12 and 48 h postoperatively, consumptions of fentanyl and remifentanyl, and the pressing times of the patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump. Baseline characteristics, surgery characteristics and primary and secondary outcomes between groups were compared. Results: A total of 92 eligible patients were recruited, including 46 in SAPB group and 46 in PVB group. Baseline and surgery characteristics between groups were comparable (all P>0.05). No significant differences in VAS scores at rest and cough at 1 h, 6 h, 12 h, 24 h, 48 h, 3 months and 6 months postoperatively between SAPB group and PVB group were detected (all P>0.05). Conclusion: The anesthetic efficacy of ultrasound-guided SAPB was not inferior to PVB on alleviating postoperative acute and chronic pain following the video-assisted thoracic surgery.Trial registration number: retrospective registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2100050991, http://www.chictr.org.cn, 09/09/2021, Yan Wang, MD).