Tubeless video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) under non-intubated, intravenous anesthesia with spontaneous ventilation and no placement of chest tube postoperatively

Tubeless major pulmonary resections

From its inception, cutting edge minimally invasive thoracic surgery has pursued to barely produce patient perturbation. Although state of the art techniques such as uniportal approach have achieved a remarkable reduction in postoperative morbidity, there is still a way to go in patient comfort. A new 'tubeless' concept has surfaced as an alternative to double-lumen intubation with general anaesthesia combining non-intubated spontaneous breathing video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) surgery under loco-regional blockade with the avoidance of central line, epidural or urinary catheter and chest tube in selected patients. Those procedures combine the most evolved and less invasive techniques in anaesthesia, video-assisted surgery and perioperative care to cause the least trauma and allow for faster recovery. Non-intubated thoracic surgery used to rise some concerns regarding spontaneous breathing collapse, oxygenation, cough reflex triggering and mediastinal shift. Today, experienced teams in high-volume centers have proven non-intubated major lung resections are feasible and safe once those drawbacks have been overcome with the proper techniques and extensive previous expertise in VATS. Tubeless thoracic surgery is currently evolving, challenging former exclusion criteria and expanding indications to major lung resections or even tracheal and carinal resections to provide better intraoperative status and promote minimal need for recovery.

Non-intubated thoracoscopic surgery: initial experience at a single center

Background

Non-intubated thoracoscopic surgery is an evolving form of minimally-invasive thoracic surgery. We commenced performing non-intubated thoracoscopic surgery at our center in August 2016. We would like to report our initial experience, over a period of 1 year, with this procedure.

Methods

From August 2016 to August 2017, non-intubated thoracoscopic surgery was performed in a series of consecutive patients who underwent thoracoscopic surgery in those who did not meet any of the following exclusion criteria: body mass index (BMI) >30, expected difficult airway, expected extensive pleural adhesion, severe cardiopulmonary dysfunction, persistent cough or excessive airway secretion, high risk of gastric reflux, and underlying neurological disorder.

Results

A total of 115 consecutive patients underwent non-intubated thoracoscopic surgery. Of these, 83 (72.2%) of patients had lung cancers that had undergone pulmonary resection and the other 32 (27.8%) patients were diagnosed with pulmonary metastasis, benign lung diseases, thymic tumor or other conditions. The mean time of anesthesia was 172.4 min and time of operation was 130 min. The mean postoperative chest tube duration was 3.9 days and time of hospital stay was 6.0 days. There were 9 conversions (7.8%) to intubation, due to increased respiratory movement with intraoperative hypoxemia or severe pleural adhesion. There were 16 complications (13.9%) following surgery, but all of these were successfully managed during the period of hospital stay. There was no postoperative mortality. In multivariate analysis, old age and high BMI were significant risk factors for conversion to intubation (hazard ratio =1.122, P=0.038; hazard ratio =1.408, P=0.042, respectively).

Conclusions

Non-intubated thoracoscopic surgery can safely be performed in selected patients.

Tubeless single-port thoracoscopic sublobar resection: indication and safety

Background

The tubeless technique, defined as non-intubated general anesthesia with omission of chest drainage after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), is a new concept to further minimize surgical trauma. However, there has been little investigation into the associated feasibility and safety. Minimization of postoperative pneumothorax is challenging. We set up a "tubeless protocol" to select patients for tubeless single-port VATS with monitoring of a digital drainage system (DDS).

Methods

From November 2016 to September 2017, 50 consecutive non-intubated single-port VATS for pulmonary resection were performed. In our study, patients with small and peripheral pulmonary lesions indicated for sublobar resections, as diagnostic or curative intent, were included. After excluding patients having tumors >2 cm, or intrapleural adhesions noted during operation, or forced expiratory volume in the 1 second <1.5 L, 36 patients were selected for tubeless protocol. The clinical characteristics and perioperative outcomes of these patients are presented.

Results

Among 36 cases, 5 patients had minor air leaks detected using the DDS and required intercostal drainage after wound closure. Among the remaining 31 patients in whom the DDS showed no air leak, the chest drainage was removed immediately after wound closure. A postoperative chest roentgenogram on the surgery day showed full expansion in all patients without pneumothorax. Only 7 (19.4%) patients developed minor subclinical pneumothorax on the first postoperative day without the need for chest drainage. All patients were discharged uneventfully without the need for intervention.

Conclusions

Our tubeless protocol utilizes DDS to select patients who can have intercostal drainage omitted after non-intubated single-port VATS for pulmonary resection. Using objective DDS parameters, we believe that this is an effective way to reduce the rate of pneumothorax after tubeless single-port VATS in selected patients.

Non-intubated video-assisted thoracoscopic lung biopsy for interstitial lung disease: a single-center experience

Background

The mortality and morbidity associated with video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) lung biopsy for interstitial lung disease (ILD) are not negligible. We evaluated whether non-intubated VATS lung biopsy, which avoids intubation and general anesthesia, can be safely performed in ILD subjects.

Methods

This retrospective study compared the incidence of complications and surgical mortality between 25 consecutive intubated subjects and 10 non-intubated subjects (a total of 35 consecutive subjects) at a single institution.

Results

No major surgical complications or deaths were reported in either group, and non-intubated VATS biopsies were safely performed in subjects with relatively low carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (P=0.08) or poor American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status scores (ASA) (P=0.02).

Conclusions

These preliminary results suggest that non-intubated VATS lung biopsy is a safe and feasible option in patients with ILD.

It is safe and feasible to omit the chest tube postoperatively for selected patients receiving thoracoscopic pulmonary resection: a meta-analysis

Background

To access the feasibility and safety of no chest tube (NCT) placement after thoracoscopic pulmonary resection.

Methods

A comprehensive search of online databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane library) was performed. Studies investigating the safety and feasibility of NCT compared with chest tube placement (CTP) after VATS pulmonary resection were eligible for our meta-analysis. Perioperative outcomes were extracted and synthesized. Specific subgroups (wedge resection) were examined. The methodological quality of the included articles was evaluated with the methodological index for non-randomized studies (MINORS) tool.

Results

Analysis of 9 studies including a total of 918 patients was performed. Four hundred sixty-one patients underwent NCT and 457 patients underwent CTP. The length of stay (LOS) postoperatively in the NCT group was significant shorter than in the CTP group [standardized mean difference (SMD) = -0.80; 95% confidence interval (CI), -1.13 to -0.47, P=0.000]. Patients in the NCT group experienced slighter pain than patients in the CTP group in postoperative day (POD) one (SMD = -0.41; 95% CI, -0.75 to -0.07, P=0.02), and POD two (SMD = -0.41; 95% CI, -0.75 to -0.07, P=0.02). While, there was no significant difference about the 30-day morbidity for patients who underwent NCT and CTP [relative ratio (RR) =1.01; 95% CI, 0.59-1.74, P=0.04) and the rate of re-intervention (RR =0.89; 95% CI, 0.33-2.40, P=0.57). No perioperative mortality was observed in both groups. The sensitivity analysis suggested that the relative effects between 2 groups have already stabilized. Subgroup analysis revealed an effect modification by operation approach regarding perioperative morbidity, but not for LOS.

Conclusions

This meta-analysis conforms that it is feasible and safe to omit chest tube after thoracoscopic pulmonary resection for patients carefully selected. Randomized controlled trails (RCTs) are urgently needed to verify this conclusion.

[Thoracoscopic pulmonary resection for metastatic lesion without pleural drainage: initial experience]

AIM

To analyze the possibility of thoracoscopic pulmonary resection for metastatic lesion without pleural drainage.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

There were 10 patients aged 53.8 years. Most of patients had solitary lung injury within 3 cm from the visceral pleura on the average. Surgical treatment was performed in standard fashion: hardware atypical pulmonary resection within healthy tissues. Pleural cavity was drained with 24 Fr tube. After that lung was inflated under visual control. Since wounds were closured residual air was evacuated by active aspiration and drainage tube was removed. Control chest X-ray was performed in 2 hours and 1 day after surgery.

RESULTS

The technique was successful in all patients. Mean surgery time was 52 minutes. There was no blood loss in all patients. Pneumo- and/or hydrothorax were absent according to control chest X-ray in postoperative period. Mean length of postoperative hospital-stay was 3 days (median 2 days). There were no cases of repeated hospitalization.

Prognostic value of cancer antigen -125 for lung adenocarcinoma patients with brain metastasis: A random survival forest prognostic model

Using random survival forest, this study was intended to evaluate the prognostic value of serum markers for lung adenocarcinoma patients with brain metastasis (BM), and tried to integrate them into a prognostic model. During 2010 to 2015, the patients were retrieved from two medical centers. Besides the Cox proportional hazards regression, the random survival forest (RSF) were also used to develop prognostic model from the group A (n = 142). In RSF of the group A, the factors, whose minimal depth were greater than the depth threshold or had a negative variable importance (VIMP), were firstly excluded. Subsequently, C-index and Akaike information criterion (AIC) were used to guide us finding models with higher prognostic ability and lower overfitting possibility. These RSF models, together with the Cox, modified-RPA and lung-GPA index were validated and compared, especially in the group B (CAMS, n = 53). Our data indicated that the KSE125 model (KPS, smoking, EGFR-20 (exon 18, 19 and 21) and Ca125) was the best in survival prediction, and performed well in internal and external validation. In conclusions, for lung adenocarcinoma patients with brain metastasis, a validated prognostic nomogram (KPS, smoking, EGFR-20 and Ca125) can more accurately predict 1-year and 2-year survival of the patients.

Uniportal non-intubated thoracic surgery

Uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is the most advanced evolution of the minimally invasive technique, which allows often the possibility to include patients in enhanced recovery programs in order to optimize the therapeutic pathway, shorten the length of stay and reduce hospital costs. Non-intubated VATS procedures allow the performance of surgeries with minimal sedation without general anesthesia, maintaining throughout the operation spontaneous breathing. The principle is to create an iatrogenic spontaneous pneumothorax, which can provide a good lung isolation without the need of a double lumen tube. A survey between the members of the European Society of Thoracic Surgery (ESTS) showed that non-intubated VATS procedures are already performed by a large number of ESTS members for minor procedures. With the publication of new data and the spreading of uniportal VATS in many centers worldwide in the last decades, the application of the non-intubated technique in major procedure like anatomic resections is expected to grow. This technique can potentially be beneficial for high-risk patients but also could be used for the routine procedures as well, but more data are needed to establish the real benefit for these groups of patients.

Recent advances in the management of pulmonary tuberculoma with focus on the use of tubeless video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery

Pulmonary tuberculoma are benign solitary pulmonary nodules representing up to 25% of all resected solitary pulmonary nodules. However, the differentiation between pulmonary tuberculoma and lung cancer, as well as between active tuberculoma and inactive tuberculoma remains a clinical challenge. The present review summarizes the recent advances in the management of pulmonary tuberculoma, including radiological findings, the response to anti-tuberculosis treatment and surgical treatments. Application of the novel tubeless video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) technique in both the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculoma has been found to be safe and feasible and leads to less surgical trauma, which results in reduced length of hospitalization and better post-operative quality of life.

A segmental labeling technique for non-intubated thoracoscopic anatomical segmentectomy

Herein we present a method of pulmonary segmental labeling for non-intubated thoracoscopic segmentectomy assisted with artificial pneumothorax, which is assumed to obtain a significant colored inflation-deflation line between target segment and adjacent normal tissues for precise resection.