• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.133-138
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• 2010

Background: Video assisted thoracic surgery has been widely accepted for the treatment of primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Material and Method: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 89 primary pneumothorax patients who had undergone thoracoscopic bleb ligation from February 2002 to June 2006, and we assessed the patients for recurrence. The mean follow-up period was 65 months. Result: Pneumothorax recurred in 7 patients (8%) during the follow-up period. Conclusion: Thoracoscpic bleb ligation might be an acceptable alternative technique for treating primary spontaneous pneumothorax.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.388-392
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• 1998

Hyperhidrosis is one of abnormalities in autonomic nervous system, it has been treated with dermatologic principles or thoracic sympathectomy via thoracotomy. But these techniques were rather ineffective or invasive. Recently, Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery(VATS) is widely applided in thoracic surgical area, and palmar & axillary hyperhidrosis is not the exception. From August 1995 to February 1997, 52 patients with bilateral palmar hyperhidrosis underwent bilateral thoracic sympathectomy with VATS in the department of thoracic & cardiovascular surgery, Inje university, Pusan Paik Hospital. There were 27 men and 25 women and the mean age was 22 years. Mean operating time was 172 min and unilateral sympathectomy via minithoracotomy was applied in one patient due to severe pleural adhesion. Mean postoperative hospital stay was 2.6 days. During mean 12.5 months follow-up, there was no recurrence of sweating in the both hands. Thirty patients(57.7%) complained moderate degree of compensatory sweating, but the discomfort was decreased in severity. 83.8% of all patients were satisfied with the result of operation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.556-560
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• 1999

Background: The cause of spontaneous pneumothorax is not yet but it is certain that intrathoracic air comes from ruptured bulla. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery(VATS) or open thoracotomy is recommended for thoracic incision in recurrent pneumothorax. However, recurrent rate after bullectomy with the VATS is very high compared to mini-thoracotomy, 3% to 20% and below 2%, respectively. Material and Method: This retrospective analysis was performed on 16 re-operated cases among 446 surgically treated pneumothorax of the 737 cases of spontaneous pneumothorax diagnosed at Yongdong Severance Hospital from Nov. 1992 to June 1997. Result: Among the 446 surgically-treated patients in 737 case of spontaneous pneumothorax, 16 patients underwent re-operation, showing a 3.5% re-operation rate. Male-to-female ratio was 15 to 1 and mean age at initial attack was 20.2 years(ranging from 15 to 50). Mean hospital stay was 6.34 days(ranging from 2 to 20 days) and mean chest tube indwelling period was 4.2 days(ranging from 1-10 days). Median follow-up was 46 months(range 10-66 months). Three different surgical methods were applied : video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery(VAST) in 281 cases, of whom 2 underwent local anesthesia; subaxillary mini-thoracotomy in 159 cases and limited lateral thoracotomy in the remaining 6 cases. Three different re-operative surgical methods were applied ; video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VAST) in 6 cases, subaxillary mini-thoracotomy in 9 cases, and limited lateral thoracotomy in the remaining 1 case. The underlying etiological factors of the recurrent pneumothorax after bullectomy were o erlooking type(9) and new growing type(7). Mean recurrent period from previous operation was 1 month for overlooking type and 18 months for new growing type. Conclusion: The underlying etiological factors of recurrent pneumothorax lead to re-operation were new-growing and over-looking type. We need additional treatments besides resecting blebs of prevent the recurrence rate and more gentle handling with forceps due to less damage to the pleura.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.40 no.9
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• pp.655-658
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• 2007

Esophageal perforation is relatively uncommon but it often cause fatal if not properly treated, and it is associated with high morbidity and mortality. We report here on two cases of esophageal perforation caused by Boerhaave syndrome or pneumatic dilatation for treating achalasia. The patients were successfully treated with thoracoscopic primary repair and esophagomyotomy.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1143-1147
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• 1996

Video-assisted thoracic surgery(VATS) is emerging as a potentially less invasive means of managing a wide variety of thoracic disorders. VATS was performed in 46 cases, in the Department of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery of Chonbuk national University Hospital from August 1992 to July 1995. There were 20 men and 26 women, whose age ranged from 14 to 56 years. They were diagnosed hyperhidrosis in 21 cases, mediastinal tumor in 12 cases, pneumothorax in· 10 cases, and one case each of lelomyoma of the esophagus, Raynaud's syndrome, Burger's disease. Operation time averaged 89.7 minutes, and no patient was converted to d thoracotomy. The number of troche used, period of chest tube drainage, and postoperative hospitalization were 3, 1.8 days, and 4.B days, respectively. The postoperative complication ocurred in 5 cases (remnant pneumothorax 1 case, phrenic nerve aralysis 1 case, persistant air leakage 2 cases, compensatory hyperhidrosis 1 case). One patient with persistent air leak was managed by thoracotomy on postoperative) days, and the other patient by chemical pleurodesis. One patient diagnosed pathologically as thymic carcinoma, was managed by radiation therapy. There was no postoperative death. VATS has the benefits of reduced postoperative pain and postoperative hospitalization, and good cutsmetic effect.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.525-530
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• 1998

Thoracoscopic thoracic sympathectomy for primary palmar hyperhidrosis has been known to be effective and to have cosmetic merits compared to conventional open sympathectomy. In spite of its cosmetic advantages over thoracotomy, VATS using 5 mm or 10 mm instruments still has the problem of operative wound as well as pain on trocar sites. Recently, 2 mm thoracoscopic instruments have been used. The purpose of this study was to examine the results of thoracoscopic sympathectomy for palmar hyperhidrosis with 2 mm thoracoscopic instruments. From January 1997 to April 1997, 46 patients underwent bilateral thoracoscopic sympathectomy with 2mm instruments at Seoul National University Hospital. T-2 ganglion was carefully dissected and resected out in all patients. In one patient, the lower third of T-1 ganglion was inadvertently resected together with T-2 ganglion due to poor anatomical localization. In 4 patients who also complained of excessive axillary sweating, T-3 ganglion was resected as well. The instruments were removed without leaving any chest drain after reexpansion of the lung. Trocar sites were approximated with sterile tapes. All patients were relieved of excessive sweating in their upper extremities immediately after the operation. Nine patients(19.6%) showed incomplete reexpansion of the lung, and two of them required needle aspiration. Complications related to the surgical procedures, such as Horner's syndrome, hemothorax, and brachial plexus injury, were not detected in any cases. Most patientsdid not complaine of pain. All patients were discharged from the hospital on the day of operation. Despite a narrow operative viewfield, thoracic sympathectomy with 2 mm thoracoscopic instruments can be performed without increasing any severe complications. We recommend 2 mm instruments for thoracoscopic sympathectomy because they make as the more cosmetic, less painful, and equally effective compared to thoracoscopic sympathectomy using 5 mm or greater instruments.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.226-232
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• 1998

With recent advancements in the instrumentation and technique of VATS, it has become the method of choice to cure facial hyperhidrosis. From July 1996 to April 1997, we performed 43 thoracic lower stellate ganglionectomy with VATS for facial hyperhidrosis. There were 33 men and 10 women whose ages ranged from 17 to 63 years(mean age, 37 years). Of those patients, 23 complained only of facial hyperhidrosis, and 20 complained of facial hyperhidrosis along with excessive sweating of the palm or foot. Thoracoscopic sympathetic ganglionectomy procedures included lower stellate ganglionectomy in 12 patients; lower stellate ganglionectomy and T2-sympathetic ganglionectomy in 28 patients; and lower stellate, T2 and T3 sympathetic ganglionectomy in 3 patients. Common complications were compensatory hyperhidrosis(36 patients) and causalgia(8 patients). At the end of the follow-up period(minimum, 3 months) ninety-five percent of the patients reported satisfactory results. Thoracic lower stellate ganglionectomy with VATS is an efficient, safe and minimally invasive surgical procedure for facial hyperhidrosis.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.404-410
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• 2003

Different treatment options are available according to the stage and duration of the empyema. Stage I empyema (exudate stage) is treated concurrently by the administration of appropriate antibiotics and chest tube drainage. Stage III empyema (organized stage) is considered for decortication through an open thoracotomy. However, the treatment of fibrinopurulent, stage II empyema remains controversial. Recently, debridement with the use of Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) has been proposed for the treatment of stage II empyema. We analyzed and report our initial experience of 5 cases of stage II empyema, treated with the use of VATS. Material and Method: Between June 2001 and February 2002, 5 patients with fibrinopurulent empyema that did not respond to antibiotics, chest tube drainage or Percutaneous Catheter drainage (PCD), and instillation of fibrinolytic agent were treated by debridement and irrigation with the use of VATS. A CT scan was performed in all patients before the operation to confirm the diagnosis of loculated empyema and to detect additional lung parenchymal diseases. Result: All 5 patients underwent successful debridement and irrigation with the use of VATS and the chest tube was inserted properly. And no patients needed conversion to open thoracotomy. The ratio of sex was 4 : 1 (male : female), the mean age was 53 years old (range, 26~73 years), the mean operative time was 73.4 minutes (range, 52~95 minutes), the mean duration of postoperative chest tube placement was 12.4 days (range, 6~19 days), and the mean duration of postoperative hospital stay was 20.8 days (range, 10~36 days). In all patients, clinical symptoms such as pain and fever subsided and simple chest PA view revealed satisfactory lung expansion. No major postoperative complication was observed during the hospital course and no patient suffered from the recurrence of empyema in the follow-up period. Conclusion: We think that early operation with the use of VATS is safe and efficient for stage II empyema which did not respond to medical treatment(antibiotics and chest tube drainage), therefore, it can prevent stage II empyema from advancing to stage III, organized empyema.

• Proceedings of the KTCVS Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.108-108
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• 1998

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.910-915
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• 1996

The bullectomy through transaxillary minithoracotomy and video assisted thoracic surgery(VATS) have been widely used in treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax. The study comprised a retrospective review of 1 13 consecutive cases of whom underwent bullectomy through transaxillary minithoracotomy at Shinchon Severance Hospital(group T) and 129 consecutive cases of whom underwent thoracoscopical bullectomy at Youngdong Severance(group V) between January 1992 to Jun 1994. This study compare the clinical and economic resuts of group T and group V There were no significant differences for operation time, indwelling periods of chest tube, hospital stay, complication rate and rate of recurrence in the two groups. The times of parenteral analgesics use and treatment cost were significant less in group T.