Minimally invasive thoracic surgery, video-assisted thoracic surgery and thoracoscopy.
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Video-assisted thoracic surgery has been performed in 20 patients at the Medical Center of Delaware. Operations included seven pulmonary wedge resections, one mediastinal procedure, and 12 pleural procedures. In all cases, a definitive diagnosis was made or the lesion was removed. One postoperative atypical pneumonia occurred. One patient whose wedge resection proved to be squamous cell carcinoma on frozen section underwent a formal thoracotomy and lobectomy. Estimated savings in the eight patients who formerly would have undergone a thoracotomy incision is estimated at $30,000 for room cost alone. We foresee a markedly expanded role for this technique in major pulmonary resections, esophageal procedures, and cardiac surgery in the near future.
BACKGROUND: While dexamethasone is proven to enhance single-shot erector spinae plane block (ESPB), its role as an adjuvant in continuous ESPB catheters is unclear. This randomised controlled trial evaluated whether adding dexamethasone to ropivacaine improves analgesia after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). METHODS: 85 patients undergoing VATS with continuous ESPB were randomised to receive postoperative infusion of either 0.2% ropivacaine(C-ESPB group) or ropivacaine with 10 mg dexamethasone(D + C-ESPB group). The primary outcome was resting pain visual analog scale (VAS)at 12 h postoperatively, while secondary outcomes included QoR-15 scores, tramadol consumption, time to first analgesic requirement, postoperative adverse events, 3-month incidence of chronic pain, catheter-related complications, pain intensity at other times, and hospital stay. RESULTS: The D + C-ESPB group had significantly lower resting pain at 12 h [2.56 (1.03) vs 3.24 (1.21), mean difference -0.680, p = 0.006]; and lower coughing pain at 12 h [4.60 (1.48) vs 5.69 (1.35), mean difference 1.086, p < 0.001], with analgesic superiority sustained through 72 h. Quality of Recovery-15 scores were higher at 12 h [124.70 (12.48) vs 117.26 (12.24); mean difference -7.436, p = 0.007] and 48 h [141.60 (5.51) vs 138.98 (6.64); mean difference -2.628, p = 0.050]; Total tramadol consumption over 72 h was markedly reduce [0 (0,100) vs 100 (75,100), z = -3.807, p < 0.001], and hospital stay was shorter [Mean (SD) 6.09 (1.34) d vs 6.93 (1.55)d, p < 0.001]. The intervention did not, however, alter the 3-month incidence of chronic postsurgical pain (31% vs 34%, p = 0.756). CONCLUSION: Dexamethasone significantly enhances the analgesic efficacy of continuous ESPB, improving early pain control, recovery quality, and opioid-sparing after VATS, but does not reduce the incidence of chronic persistent surgical pain.
Video-assisted thoracic surgery is emerging as a viable approach to a number of intrathoracic disorders. Technical difficulties related to improper instrument selection and suboptimal intercostal operative access can reduce the utility of, and the enthusiasm for, the video-assisted thoracic surgical approach. This report describes the intercostal access strategy and the instrument positioning that we now prescribe for many video-assisted thoracic surgical procedures. These approaches have become refined during the course of our experience with 467 patients undergoing video-assisted thoracic operations over the last 18 months.
We report on our first experiences with an access in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) which to the best of our knowledge has not yet been reported. One of the main problems in VATS is the absence of palpation which evidently plays an important role in tumor surgery. In three cases we therefore performed dorsolateral 8 cm incisions just beneath the scapula and resected a corresponding length on 6th or 7th rib to be able to insert one hand into the thorax. No rib-spreader was used in either case, the idea being that a small costotomy would be less painful and traumatic than a standard posterolateral thoracotomy. Visualization of the operative field was obtained by inserting a camera through the 9th intercostal space, one or two additional small incisions were made for the other instruments.
BACKGROUND: Injury to the diaphragm from penetrating or blunt thoracoabdominal trauma is notoriously difficult to diagnose. Chest radiography, computed tomography scan, contrast studies, diagnostic peritoneal lavage, and laparoscopy are inadequate; thus, celiotomy is commonly performed in patients with suspected diaphragmatic injury. We compared the diagnostic accuracy of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) with that of exploratory celiotomy in the evaluation of diaphragmatic and thoracoabdominal injury. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Hemodynamically stable patients admitted to a level I trauma center with blunt or penetrating injury to the lower chest or abdomen underwent VATS and subsequent celiotomy under the same general anesthetic. Intraoperative thoracoscopic findings were blinded to the abdominal surgeons. RESULTS: Twenty-six patients were enrolled in the study over a 12-month period. Diaphragmatic injuries were identified in 8 patients (31%). Videothoracoscopy identified all eight injuries in these patients. Six of the 8 patients (75%) with diaphragmatic injuries sustained associated injury to intrathoracic or intra-abdominal organs. There was no mortality and no procedure-related morbidity. There were no missed injuries in patients who underwent VATS. CONCLUSIONS: Video-assisted thoracoscopy is a safe, expeditious, and accurate method of evaluating the diaphragm in injured patients, and is comparable in diagnostic accuracy to exploratory celiotomy.
Forty patients with malignant pulmonary disease underwent evaluation, staging, and a biopsy or resection by means of video-assisted thoracic surgery. There were 20 men and 20 women whose ages ranged from 27 to 82 years. Eight patients had a wedge resection for metastatic carcinoma, three a lobectomy for primary carcinoma, six exploration of the thorax, five biopsy of the aortopulmonary window, and eighteen a sublobar resection for primary carcinoma of the lung. There was no mortality. Three patients had air leaks that lasted an average of 8 days. Video-assisted thoracic surgery seems to be useful for more precise staging of carcinoma of the lung, and, in some patients, resectional operations can be performed.
OBJECTIVE: Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) is a new procedure that makes it possible to see the intrathoracic organs and to resect pulmonary nodules without thoracotomy. Preoperative localization of small nodules that may not be visible or palpable during VATS is desirable. Percutaneous placement of spring hookwires is widely used to localize pulmonary nodules before VATS; infrequently, the adjacent lung parenchyma is also stained with methylene blue. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of methylene blue staining of pulmonary nodules without placement of a hookwire. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Fifteen pulmonary nodules in 15 patients were localized preoperatively under CT guidance by using techniques identical to those for CT-guided fine-needle aspiration of pulmonary nodules. Approximately 0.3 ml of methylene blue dye was injected into the nodule with a 22-gauge Chiba needle to stain the nodule, the needle pathway, and the visceral pleura. In two patients, a hookwire also was placed. All patients had solitary nodules in which transbronchial or transthoracic biopsy had been unsuccessful. The mean nodule diameter was 16 mm (range, 8-33 mm), and the mean distance to the nearest pleural surface was 10 mm (range, 0-21 mm). The localization procedure required a mean of 32 min (range, 18-47 min). RESULTS: All 15 nodules were stained successfully either in the center or within the margins; the two hookwires were found to be displaced. In three cases, pulmonary hemorrhage occurred as a complication of the percutaneous staining procedure: in one case, subsequent conversion to thoracotomy was necessary owing to pulmonary hemorrhage and additional pleural bleeding during VATS, which resulted from puncture with a trocar directly into the pleural adhesions. Anticipated complications, such as pneumothorax, occurred in five patients; one patient had pleuritic pain, but none required treatment. In one patient, conversion to thoracotomy was done so that an adenocarcinoma could be treated by means of a lobectomy. In two others, thoracotomy was done because of problems with technical devices. CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous staining of pulmonary nodules is an accurate technique for localizing nodules before VATS. The procedure is easily and safely performed, and it obviates wire-related complications, such as severe pleuritic pain.
BACKGROUND: The anesthetic characteristics of ultrasound-guided two-point rhomboid intercostal block (RIB) have not been fully established. This study compared the analgesic efficacy of ultrasound-guided two-point RIB with that of two-point thoracic paravertebral block (TPVB) for postoperative pain control and recovery in patients undergoing three-port thoracoscopic surgery. METHODS: Seventy patients aged 18-80 years scheduled for three-port thoracoscopic pulmonary resection were block-randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive either TPVB or RIB. Both techniques were performed using 10 mL of 0.5% ropivacaine at each injection site. The primary outcome was the numerical rating scale (NRS) pain score at rest 24 h after surgery, with a predefined non-inferiority margin of Δ = 1. Secondary outcomes included NRS at rest and during coughing at 0.5, 2, 4, 12, 18, 24, and 48 h postoperatively, as well as the 24h postoperative Quality of Recovery-40 (QoR-40) score. RESULTS: The final analysis included 34 patients in the TPVB group and 34 in the RIB group. The mean difference in resting NRS scores at 24 h between the two groups was 0.088 (95% CI, -0.377 to 0.553), confirming the non-inferiority of RIB. However, the need for rescue analgesia was numerically greater in the RIB group than in the TPVB group (p = 0.045). The 24-h postoperative QoR-40 scores and cumulative sufentanil consumption within 48 h after surgery were comparable between the groups (both p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Ultrasound-guided two-point RIB provided postoperative analgesia that was non-inferior to TPVB in patients undergoing three-port thoracoscopic surgery.
Video-assisted thoracic surgery is a new modality that allows visualization of and access to the intrathoracic organs without making a thoracotomy incision. One hundred consecutive patients underwent 113 thoracic procedures using this technique. Eight wedge resections for metastatic lesions, 6 pericardial windows, 1 bronchogenic cystectomy, 4 explorations of the aortopulmonary window, 1 decortication, 5 pleural scleroses, 8 bullous ablations, 25 lung biopsies, 19 wedge resections for carcinoma, 9 explorations of the thorax, 3 lobectomies, 1 esophageal cystectomy, 14 wedge resections for benign lesions, 4 pleurectomies, 1 excision of a neurogenic tumor, 3 mediastinal explorations, and 1 imaged axillary dissection were performed. There was no mortality. Ten patients had complications from which they recovered completely. Patients undergoing video-assisted thoracic operations seem to have reduced postoperative pain, shorter hospitalization, and quicker recovery times. Currently, this new modality appears to have beneficial value for patients; however, only further experience will determine its true merits.
A 45-year-old women was admitted to the hospital with a brain abscess due to asymptomatic pulmonary arteriovenous malformation (PAVM). The brain abscess was removed by craniotomy and excision following antibiotic therapy. The stapled wedge excision of the lung with the PAVM was successful under video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.
The advent in video-assisted thoracic surgery has rendered us to rely more and more on mechanical devices. We prospectively studied staple formation on resected lung specimen by radiography and attempted to correlate this with the clinical outcome. From February 1994 to January 1995, 36 consecutive pulmonary wedges (23 apical bullae, 12 pulmonary metastases, 1 tuberculoma) from 31 patients who had undergone resection by endoscopic staple-cutter (Endo GIA30, USSC) were examined by two-plane radiography for staple alignment and closure. Imperfect staple formation was found in 21 (58%) of resected specimens. The median size of the resected bullae is 4.2 mL (range, 2.0 to 58.8 mL) compared with 36 mL (range, 1.2 to 222.8 mL) in the resected metastases and tuberculoma specimen. Despite detecting more imperfect staples in the metastases group (77% vs 57%), there was little difference in the two groups with respect to postoperative chest drainage duration (median, 3 vs 2 days) or hospital stay (median, 2 vs 2 days). We conclude that the currently available endoscopic staplers are by no means perfect, especially for resection of larger specimens, even though this may not be apparent clinically. A continuous search for improvement in endoscopic staplers designed specifically for lung resection is needed.
Survival after surgical palliation of patients with malignant pleural effusions is expected to be of several months. From a group of 75 patients operated by video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) from September 1991 through March 1993, twenty-two of 38 patients with malignant disease underwent palliative surgery and operative morbidity and length of survival were studied. Palliation consisted in 20 talc pleurodesis and 2 pericardial windows for malignant effusions. In the 16 other patients with malignancy, video-thoracoscopy was done for diagnostic purposes. Thirty-day operative mortality was 13.6% (3/22) and the rate of operative morbidity was 31.8% (7/22). The follow-up was complete for all patients with a mean length of 5 months (+/- sd 4 months). During the follow-up period, 14 of 19 (74%) patients, alive 30 days after the procedure, were deceased at a mean of 3.4 +/- 4 months (6 patients < 3 months) after the operation. In all, 9 of 22 patients (40%) survived less than 3 months (median survival 4 months). Operative morbidity and mortality of video-thoracoscopy are high in the palliative group and only 60% of patients survived more than 3 months. More stringent criteria for selection of patients for palliative endosurgery should be defined.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the analgesic efficacy of thoracic paravertebral block (TPVB) with different doses of liposomal bupivacaine (LB) or ropivacaine in patients undergoing single-port thoracoscopic lung surgery. METHODS: A total of 105 patients scheduled for video-assisted single-port thoracoscopic lung surgery were randomized in a 1:1:1 ratio into three groups: low-dose LB group (group LL), high-dose LB group (group HL), or ropivacaine group (group R). All received ultrasound-guided TPVB at the T5/6 level preoperatively. The primary outcome was the area under the curve (AUC) of NRS of pain at activity (AUC-aNRS) from 1 to 72 h postoperatively. Secondary outcomes included the AUC of NRS of pain at rest (AUC-rNRS) from 1 to 72 h postoperatively, NRS of pain at rest and at activity at 1, 6, 24, 48, and 72 h postoperatively, and the cumulative opioid consumption at 24, 48, and 72 h postoperatively. Additionally, postoperative recovery and adverse events were assessed. RESULTS: AUC-aNRS differed significantly among groups (p = 0.0092), with high-dose LB lower than low-dose LB (p = 0.0071), but not versus ropivacaine. No significant difference was found in AUC-rNRS (p > 0.05). The group-by-time interactions for NRS of pain at rest and at activity were not significant (p > 0.05). Cumulative opioid consumption at 24, 48, and 72 h was lower in group HL versus group LL (all p < 0.017), but not versus ropivacaine. Postoperative recovery and adverse events showed no differences (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: LB combined with TPVB is not superior to ropivacaine for postoperative analgesia in single-port thoracoscopic lung resection.
We describe herein the successful utilization of a video-assisted thoracic surgical approach to repair Morgagni's hernia. The patient was a 62-year-old woman in whom a routine chest X-ray had revealed an asymptomatic mass, which was presumed to be a pericardial lipoma or Morgagni's hernia. The video-assisted thoracic surgical approach was combined with a right submammary minithoracotomy to successfully repair the hernia without performing a laparotomy. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful and she was discharged 14 days after surgery. Thus, we believe that video-assisted thoracic surgery may be a useful and effective method for repairing Morgagni's hernia.
We studied the use of video-assisted thoracoscopic (VAT) surgery in the management of metastatic osteosarcoma. From September 1993 to March 1994, we performed a total of 11 VAT wedge resections of pulmonary metastatic osteosarcoma in seven patients (six males, one female, age 12 to 46 years). Three patients had bilateral procedures performed either under the same anaesthesia or in stages. One patient had two operations on the same side. The average number of nodules excised was three. Two patients subsequently required formal lobectomies when the metastatic tumours were either too big or too close to the hilum for safe wedge resections. There was one death on postoperative day 3 due to dysrhythmia. One patient died 5 months later from a progression of his underlying disease. Two patients remained disease free up to 8 and 12 months, respectively, from their first operations. The average postoperative chest drain duration was 1.4 +/- 0.7 days and hospital stay 2.3 +/- 1.1 days. The procedure was well tolerated and postoperative morbidity was minimal. We conclude that although VAT wedge resection of pulmonary metastatic osteosarcoma is feasible technically and is associated with a short hospital stay and minimal morbidity, this approach cannot be recommended when complete resection of all metastases is the goal as the technique relies heavily on computed tomographic scans to detect nodules. Recurrence of metastasis from 4 to 6 months in three of seven patients argues against VAT surgery being an adequate procedure. The high cost of the staplers, in addition, is a secondary consideration.
BACKGROUND Video-assisted thoracoscopy (VAT) is being increasingly utilized by thoracic surgeons as an alternative to thoracotomy for several thoracic disorders. Neuroendoscopy is an exciting addition to the neurosurgical armamentarium. These procedures are attractive alternatives in the era of minimally invasive surgery and cost containment, while providing the highest quality medical care to patients. METHODS We report the application of this technology in a patient presenting with intractable thoracic radicular pain secondary to an intercostal neurofibroma. Complete excision of the intercostal neurofibroma was performed utilizing VAT. RESULTS The patient reported good relief of her preoperative thoracic radicular pain. She was ready for discharge from the hospital within 72 hours of surgery. CONCLUSIONS With the advent of improved instrumentation, video-assisted thoracoscopy offers a safe alternative to thoracotomy and the potential benefits of less postoperative discomfort and shorter hospital stays. The potential neurosurgical applications of VAT should not be overlooked.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The aim of this study is to describe a new operative technique for anterior lumbar and lumbosacral fusion using a video assisted anterior extra peritoneal approach. MATERIAL: Ten patients were operated on. There were 3 men and 7 females. Age at operation ranged from 18 to 55. There were 8 degenerative and 2 iatrogenic discopathias. Fused level was L4-L5 (5 patients) and L5-S1 (5 patients). Average hospital stay was 6 days. METHODS: A small vertical 4-5 cm incision is made on the mid line, centered on the umbilicus for the approach to L4-L5, and between the umbilicus and pubis for the L5-S1 approach. The peritoneum is cleaved from the abdominal wall on the left side, and the anterior aspect of the spine is progressively freed. The endoscope is laterally introduced. It gives an excellent view of the prevertebral area. A specially designed retractor is used for retraction of the iliac vessels. Following removal of the intervertebral disc, a special spreader allows obtention of a normal intervertebral space height and insertion of an autogenous iliac graft. DISCUSSION: Anterior approach of the lumber intervertebral discs allows disc resection and grafting in a strict middle position. The extra peritoneal simplifies the postoperative course and avoids digestive and septic complications of the transperitoneal approach. The video assistance gives excellent exposure by a small incision with direct visual control; it should be differentiated form the true endoscopic lumbar surgery which is performed under C02 insufflation, with exclusive endoscopic vision and with instruments introduced through trocards. CONCLUSION: Video-assistance allows an approach to the lumbar and lumbosacral spine by an anterior non invasive extra peritoneal approach, with low morbidity, increasing the possibilities of anterior fusion in the treatment of lumbar discopathias and instability without radicular compromise.