Lung decortication in phase III pleural empyema by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS)-results of a learning curve study

Background

Pleural empyema (PE) is a devastating disease with a high morbidity and mortality. According to the American Thoracic Society it is graduated into three phases and surgery is indicated in intermediate phase II and organized phase III. In the latter, open decortication of the lung via thoracotomy is the gold standard whereas the evidence for feasibility and safety of a minimally-invasive video-assisted thoracoscopic approach is still poor.

Methods

Retrospective single-center analysis of patients undergoing surgery for phase III PE from 02/2011 to 03/2015 [n=138, including n=130 VATS approach (n=3 of them with bilateral disease) and n=8 open approach]. The learning curve was assessed by grouping those 127 patients with unilateral disease who underwent a video-assisted thoracoscopic approach into two groups: VATS-1 (03/2011 to 06/2012, n=43) and VATS-2 (06/2012 to 03/2015, n=84).

Results

ASA-scores (P=0.0279) and rate of pre-operative drainage therapy (P=0.0534) were higher in VATS-2 patients. Operating times were longer in VATS-1 (P=0.0308), intra-operative complication as well as conversion to open surgery rates did both not differ. Rates of post-operative vasoconstrictive therapy (P=0.0191) and prolonged mechanical ventilation (P=0.0560) were both higher in VATS-2, however, post-operative length of stay (LOS) at intensive care unit, overall post-operative LOS and post-operative complication rate were similar in both groups.

Conclusions

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery is feasible for evacuation and decortication in late phase III PE. A learning curve of approximately 40 cases is sufficient to gain procedure-specific surgical skills and thus reduce the operating times sufficiently.

Thoracotomy versus video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) in stage III empyema-an analysis of 217 consecutive patients

BACKGROUND

Pleural empyema is an infectious disease of the chest cavity, with a high morbidity and mortality. According to the American Thoracic Society, pleural empyema gets graduated into three stages, with surgery being indicated in intermediate stage II and chronic stage III. Evidence for the feasibility of a minimally-invasive video-assisted thoracoscopic approach in stage III empyema for pulmonary decortication is still little.

METHODS

Retrospective single-center analysis of patients conducted to surgery for chronic stage III pleural empyema from 05/2002 to 04/2014 either by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS, n = 110) or conventional open surgery by thoracotomy (n = 107). Multiple regression analysis and propensity score matching was used to evaluate the influence of operation technique (thoracotomy versus VATS) on the length of post-operative hospitalization.

RESULTS

Operation time was longer in the thoracotomy-group (p = 0.0207). Conversion rate from VATS to open surgery by thoracotomy was 4.5%. Post-operative complication- (61 patients in thoracotomy- and 55 patients in VATS-group), recurrence- (3 patients in thoracotomy- and 5 in VATS-group) and mortality-rates (6.5% in thoracotomy- and 9.5% in VATS-group) did not differ between both groups; the length of (post-operative) stay at intensive care unit was longer in the VATS-group (p = 0.0023). Duration of chest tube drainage and prolonged air leak rate were similar among both groups, leading to a similar overall and post-operative length of hospital stay in both groups. Adjusted to clinically and statistically relevant confounders, multiple regression analysis showed an influence of the surgical technique on length of post-operative stay after pair matching of the patients (n = 84 in each group) by propensity score (B = - 0.179 for thoracotomy = 0 and VATS = 1, p = 0.032) leading to a reduction of 0.836 days after a VATS-approach compared to thoracotomy.

CONCLUSIONS

VATS in late stage (III) pleural empyema is feasible and safe. The decrease in post-operative hospitalization demonstrated by adjusted multiple regression analysis may indicate the minimally-invasive approach being safe, more tolerable for patients, and more effective.

Anatomic lung resections for benign pulmonary diseases by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS)

PURPOSE

Based on increasing evidence of its benefits regarding perioperative and oncologic outcome, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has gained increasing acceptance in the surgical treatment of early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the evidence for a VATS approach in anatomic lung resection for benign pulmonary diseases is still limited.

METHODS

Between March 2011 and May 2014, data from 33 and 63 patients who received VATS anatomic lung resection for benign diseases (VATS-B) and early stage NSCLC (VATS-N), respectively, were analyzed retrospectively. For subgroup analyses, VATS-B was subdivided by operation time and underlying diseases. Subgroups were compared to VATS-N.

RESULTS

Three patients from VATS-B and four from VATS-N experienced conversion to open surgery. Causes of conversion in VATS-B were intraoperative complications, whereas conversions in VATS-N were elective for oncological concerns (p < 0.05). Operation time and duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation were longer by tendency; postoperative stay on intensive care unit and chest tube duration were significantly longer in VATS-B. Subgroup analyses showed a longer operation time as a predictor for worse perioperative outcome regarding postoperative mechanical ventilation, postoperative stay on intensive care unit, chest tube duration, and length of hospital stay. Patients with longer operation time suffered from more postoperative complications. Differences in perioperative outcome data were not significantly dependent on the underlying benign diseases compared to VATS-N.

CONCLUSIONS

VATS is feasible and safe in anatomic lung resection for benign pulmonary diseases. Not the underlying disease, but a longer operation time is a factor for worse postoperative outcome.

A standardized technique of systematic mediastinal lymph node dissection by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) leads to a high rate of nodal upstaging in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND

A substantial part of the oncologic surgical procedure in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is systematic lymph node dissection (sLND). However, controversies still exist regarding the quality of minimally invasive (video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, VATS) sLND in oncologic resections. The rate of stage migration from clinical to pathological N-status has been discussed as one parameter for the quality of sLND.

METHODS

Between March 2011 and May 2014, seventy-seven patients (62 male, 15 female) were scheduled for anatomical lung resection and sLND by VATS for clinical stage I (UICC 7th edition) NSCLC. Preoperative staging was performed by [18F]-fluorodesoxyglucose positron emission tomography with computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT). Patient data were retrospectively analyzed with regard to divergence in clinical and pathological N-factor. FDG-PET/CTs of patients with lymph node (LN) upstaging after VATS resections were blindly re-evaluated by an experienced radiologist.

RESULTS

In FDG-PET/CT, preoperative tumor stage was cT1N0M0 in 41 (53.2%) and cT2aN0M0 in 28 (36.4%) patients. In six (7.8%) patients the primary tumor was not suspicious for malignancy, and in two (2.6%) patients the tumor was not evaluable due to prior wedge resection before FDG-PET/CT. Thirty-one (40.3%) left-sided and 46 (59.7%) right-sided pulmonary resections with sLND were performed; 19.57 ± 0.99 LNs were dissected. In 13 (16.9%) patients a nodal stage migration from preoperative clinical to postoperative pathological N-stage was observed [cN0 to pN1 in 9 (11.7%) and cN0 to pN2 in 4 (5.2%) cases]. In correlation to the clinical T-factor, the rate of N-factor upstaging for cT1 was 12.2% and for cT2a was 28.6%, respectively. In 50% of the patients with postoperative nodal staging shift, no changes were observed on re-evaluation of the preoperative FDG-PET/CT.

CONCLUSION

In this series of clinical stage I NSCLC patients, the rate of nodal stage migration after sLND by VATS is higher than previously reported. Prospective randomized controlled trials are needed to prove the oncologic quality of a sLND by VATS versus standard open approach.