A device to prevent an air-leakage after a thoracoscopic surgery for spontaneous pneumothorax

摘要

PURPOSE: In a thoracoscopic surgery for the patient with spontaneous pneumothorax, an air-leakage from the staple-line is one of the most troublesome complications. Recently we have been using a polyglycolic acid (PGA) sleeve for staple-line reinforcement. The purpose of this study was to investigate an efficacy of staple-line reinforcement in the patients who underwent thoracoscopic lung resection using an automatic stapler. OBJECTS: Last 4 years, 55 patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax underwent thoracoscopic surgery using an automatic stapler. PGA sleeve was used in 19 patients as PGA group, fibrin glue was applied to the staple-line in 6 patients as fibrin group and no staple-line reinforcement was applied in 30 patients as no-reinforce group. We investigated the efficacy of staple-line reinforcement according to the results after surgery in these 3 groups. RESULTS: Average drainage time in PGA group, fibrin group and no-reinforce group were 2.1, 2.2 and 2.8 days, respectively. In PGA group, the drainage time after surgery tended to be short term. The relapse of pneumothorax after surgery developed in 2 patients in PGA group (10.5%) and 8 patients in non-reinforce group (26.7%). In PGA group, the relapse after surgery tended to be low rate. CONCLUSIONS: Bioabsorbable PGA sleeve could be an useful device for a staple-line reinforcement in the patients who underwent lung resection using automatic stapler.