• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.337-343
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• 2009

Background: Postoperative recurrence is a major problem after performing video-assisted thoracic surgery for the treatment of primary pneumothorax. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a bioabsorbable staple line reinforcement (GORE $SEAMGUARD^{(R)}$) for preventing recurrence after bullectomy. Material and Method: From January 2000 to December 2004, 300 patients underwent video assisted thoracoscopic surgery for the treatment of primary penumothorax. 143 patients were treated with bioabsorbable staple line reinforcement (Group A) and 142 patients were treated with stapling of the bullae (Group B). Mechanical pleural abrasion was performed in all the patients. The operating time, the duration of the indwelling chest tube, the length of the hospital stay and the number of recurrences after operation were compared between the groups. Result: No operative deaths occurred. The conversion rate to an open procedure was 5% (15/300). Comparison with these groups (Group A versus Group B) showed the following results: the operating time ($49.6{\pm}25.6$ vs $51.8{\pm}30.4$ minutes, respectively, p=0.514), the duration of an indwelling chest tube ($5.8{\pm}2.5$ vs $7.2{\pm}3.3$ days, respectively, p<0.005), the hospital stay ($10.9{\pm}4.3$ vs $12.5{\pm}4.3$ days, respectively, p<0.005) and the number of recurrences (14 (9.8%) vs 10 (7.0%), respectively, the over all rate: 8.4% p=0.523), and the mean follow up period. ($48.1{\pm}36.6$ vs $36.5{\pm}24.4$ months, respectively). Conclusion: There were advantages to use synthetic absorbable staple line reinforcement over the usual method for the treatment of primary pneumothorax in regard to the duration of an indwelling chest tube and the hospital stay, but here was no significant difference between the groups for postoperative recurrence.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.404-408
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• 2010

Background: Pleural symphysis is regarded as an important treatment option in reducing recurrence rates after surgical treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax. However, there is much debate over the best method for achieving pleural symphysis. We retrospectively compared apical pleurectomy (AP) with mechanical pleural abrasion (MPA). Material and Method: Between January 2000 and December 2007, 83 patients underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for spontaneous pneumothorax. In addition to wedge resection of bullae, MPA was performed in 21 patients (group A) and AP in 62 patients (group B). Result: There were no significant differences in age, gender and site of pneumothorax between the two groups. Operative time was $97{\pm}44$ minutes in group A and $77{\pm}18$ minutes in group B (p>0.05). The mean amount of pleural drainage through the chest tube on the first postoperative day was $156{\pm}87 cc$ in group A and $147{\pm}87 cc$ in group B (p>0.05). There was no mortality or significant morbidity in all patients with the exception of reoperation for bleeding in two patients in group B. In the postoperative course, there were no statistical differences between the two groups in the rate of residual air space, air leak and indwelling time of chest tube, and hospital stay. Mean follow up time was $31.7{\pm}25.3$ months, and the recurrence rate of pneumothorax was 9.5% (2/21) in group A and 6.5% (4/62) in group B, without statistical significance. Conclusion: AP was no more advantageous than MPA in terms of operative time, postoperative course and prevention of recurrent pneumothorax. Therefore, complete resection of bullae and existence of residual bullae are more important factors in reducing the incidence of recurrent pneumothorax than pleural symphysis.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.29-33
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• 2008

Catamenial hemoptysis is a rare condition that's characterized by recurrent hemoptysis occurring in association with menstruation, and this is associated with the presence of intrapulmonary or endobronchial endometrial tissue. The diagnosis of pulmonary endometriosis can be made according to a typical clinical history and with exclusion of other causes of recurrent hemoptysis. Treatment of pulmonary endometriosis can be medical or surgical; however, the optimal management of this condition is still a matter of debate. Medical therapy may be problematic, due to recurrence of symptoms despite hormonal ablation, and adverse effects from long-term hormone therapy can also be a problem. We report here on a case of pulmonary endometriosis in a 23-year-old woman who presented with hemoptysis that occurred during the first 3 days of menstruation, and this happened over a 4 month period. She was successfully treated by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). No more hemoptysis was noted during 12 months of follow-up.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.121-129
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• 2019

This study aimed to develop a planned discharge nursing intervention guideline for patients with pneumothorax, and to examine its influence on drug compliance, knowledge about disease, compliance level with therapeutic regimen, and nursing satisfaction. Methods: The planned discharge nursing intervention guideline was developed based on comprehensive literature reviews and clinical experiences. Patients having video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery at a single general hospital were allocated to either intervention (n=30) or control group (n=29). Participants in the intervention group were administered planned discharge nursing intervention thrice, 30 minutes each, by a cardiovascular nurse. Standard care was provided to patients in the control group. Data were collected from March, 2010 to December, 2010. Results: Participants in the intervention group presented statistically significant improvement in drug compliance (t=-2.05, p=0.044), pill count (t=-2.61, p=0.011), knowledge about disease (t=-4.39, p=0.001), and nursing satisfaction (t=-4.13, p=0.001). No significant difference in compliance levels was observed with standard therapeutic regimen. Conclusion: Planned discharge nursing intervention can be successfully implemented for patients undergoing thoracoscopic surgery. Further research is required to evaluate long-term effects like complication or relapse.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.39 no.12 s.269
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• pp.949-952
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• 2006

Spontaneous pneumothorax is rarely occurred as an initial sign of primary lung cancer. As a lot of these cases have already advanced, even then surgical resection is performed, the prognosis is often undesirable, We happened to find a ruptured cavity on a 65-year-old male patient who had suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis in the past, while performing VATS bullectomy for simple spontaneous pneumothorax, Then, as a result of frozen biopsy, it was diagnosed as squamous cell cancer Because the tumor was infiltrated from the upper lobe into the lower lobe passing by fissure, we should remove by pneumonectomy and the pathologic stage was found stage I(T2N0M0). When we made an follow-up observation for one year and a half, there was neither relapse nor complication. When there appears spontaneous pneumothorax to the high risk group for lung cancer who were smokers over forty-year old, with chronic bronchitis or pulmonary emphysema, it needs to have a closer observation on a base lung disease such as lung cancer through chest CT, and it is also necessary to make more active approach by performing the surgical operation through a thoracoscopy when there is a continued air release.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.1070-1075
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• 1998

Background: With the advent of thoracoscopy, there has been increasing interest in less invasive surgical bullectomy and pleurodesis. The recurrence rate, however, has been reported higher in surgery with thoracoscopy than with open thoracotomy and it is thought to be caused by inappropriate mechanical pleurodesis during thoracoscopic surgery. Materials and methods: We compared the short-term recurrence rates according to the intensities of pleural abrasion in 62 patients who underwent VATS for treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax from April 1996 to August 1997. The patients were divided into 2 groups: group A(n=32) included patients who received relatively weak pleural abrasion using Endo-forcep instrument for grasping the gauze, and group B(n=30) received strong pleural abrasion using conventional instrument wrapped tightly with gauze. Each intensity of pleural abrasion allowed petechia on the parietal pleura in group A, and some tearing and bleeding in group B. Results: Indications for operation, sex distribution, and age were comparable in both groups. There were no differences in chest tube indwelling time(3.78±3.35 vs 3.80±2.49 days), hospital stay(4.72±1.87 vs 4.67±2.20 days), and the amount and duration of analgesics required postoperatively. Persistent air-leak more than 7 days after surgery occurred in 4/32(12.5%) and 2/30(6.7%) in group A and B, respectively. No bleeding-related complication occured. Pneumothorax recurred 12.5%(4/32) and 0%(0/30) of patients at a mean follow-up of 9.7 and 9.6 months in group A and B, respectively, and it was statistically significant(p<0.05). Conclusions: Proper intensity of pleural abrasion is very important factor to reduce recurrence after VATS for spontaneous pneumothorax. During short-term follow-upafter surgery, we could achieve excellent result in reducing recurrence rate with VATS and strong pleural abrasion which is comparable to thoracotomy.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.71 no.6
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• pp.450-453
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• 2011

We report the case of a 32-year-old woman presenting with intermittent chest pain resulted from a migratory acupuncture needle. The patient received acupuncture treatment approximately 3 years prior to this presentation, for the treatment of chronic left shoulder and lumbar pain after delivery. Chest radiography revealed a retained needle in the lingular segmental area. Video-assisted thoracoscopy was then used to remove the migratory acupuncture needle attached between the lingular segmental lobe and the pericardial fat. The patient recovered without complications and was discharged home.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.368-371
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• 2004

Superior vena cava syndrome(SVCS) is most often encountered in patients with malignancies. Tuberculosis is nowadays an uncommon cause of SVCS. We report the case of a patient who presented with respiratory symptoms accompanied by SVCS due to tuberculous lymphadenitis. Treatment was instituted with isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol, and all symptoms disappeared. To our knowledge, no case of SVCS provoked by tuberculous lymphadenitis has been described previously in Korea.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.297-302
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• 1995

Video-assisted thoracic surgery [VATS is emerging as a viable alternatives to thoracotomy when surgical treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax is required.Apical blebs and bullaes of the lung can be resected,and pleural abrasion can be accomplished with minimal postoperative pain and a shorter postoperative stay in hospital. We compared our results with thoracoscopic management of spontaneous pneumothorax in 20 patients [group I with a group of 32 patients previously subjected to lateral limited thoracotomy [group II . Indications for operation, sex distribution, and average age [groupI, 24.7 years ; group II, 34.4 years were comparable. Operation time [112.42 54.7 min versus 124.8 35.3 min ; P 0.03 and chest tube duration [64.4 52.3 hours versus 97.7 45.4 hours ; P 0.01 were less in group I. Postoperative hospital stay was less in group I[3.84 0.99 days;P 0.01 , as was the use of parenteral narcotics after 48 hours. [5/20=25% versus25/32=78% . Pain was quantitated by verbal rating scale in postoperative 1 to 3 days. Patients undergoing VATS experienced significantly less postoperative pain. Postoperative complication was less in group I[1/20=5% versus 3/32=8.3% . In conclusion, Video-assisted thoracoscopic management of spontaneous pneumothrax allows performance of the standard surgical procedure while avoiding the thoracotomy incision.Video-assisted thoracic surgery [VATS is safe and offers the potential benefits of shorter postoperative hospital stays and less pain with cosmetic benefits.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.471-474
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• 1995

A total of 20 patients underwent bullectomy in the spontaneous pneumothorax between October 1993 and August 1994. The patients were divided into two groups: Control group; the patients who received with mid-axillary approach[n=10 , Experimental group; the patients who received with video-assisted thoracic surgery [n = 10 . The results were as follows; 1. The total sex distribution was male predominence [M :F=6:1 . Mean age of control group was 31.6$\pm$ 10.1 age and experimental group was 24.3$\pm$ 5.5 age. 2. The operative times were 117.0 $\pm$ 32.6min in control group and 102.5$\pm$ 38.4min in experimental group [not significant . 3. The indwelling period of postoperative chest tube and hospital stay were 4.5$\pm$ 2.6 days and 8.3 $\pm$ 1.8 days in control group, $1.5\pm$ 0.5 days and 3.1 $\pm$ 0.3 days in experimental group[p=0.0018, < 0.0001 . 4. In control group, injection times of pain-killer were 1.7$\pm$ 0.7 times/day at operative day and 0.4$\pm$ 0.6times/day at postoperative 1 day. In experimental group, there were 0.3$\pm$ 0.7times/day at operative day and 0.1 $\pm$ 0.3times/day at postoperative 1 day[p=O.O002 at operative day, not significant at postoperative 1 day .