ObjectiveTo verify the feasibility of a self-designed magnetic anchoring and traction device (MATD) for assisting two-port video-assisted thoracoscopic esophagectomy.MethodsThree Beagle dogs were selected as animal models with age ranging from 1-6 years and weight ranging from 8-12 kg, and they underwent two-port video-assisted thoracoscopic esophagectomy after general anesthesia. We used the MATD to retract the esophagus to different directions, which assisted mobilizing esophagus, detecting the nerves along esophagus and dissecting paraesophagus lymph nodes. The operation time, blood loss and feasibility of the MATD were recorded.ResultsWith the aid of the MATD, we successfully retracted and mobilized the esophagus, detected the nerves and dissected the lymph nodes in three Beagle dog models. During the operation, the MATD provided sufficient and steady traction of esophagus to achieve a good exposure of the operative field, effectively decreasing the interference between working instruments. The MATD worked well. The mean operation time was 30 min, and the mean intraoperative blood loss was about 10 mL.ConclusionIt is effective to use the MATD to assist retracting esophagus during video-assisted thoracoscopic esophagectomy. The magnetic anchoring and traction technique can assist to expose the surgical field, decrease the interference between the working instruments and have the potential clinical application.
Objective To investigate the current level of resourcefulness and its impact on work engagement among lung cancer patients who have returned to work after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lung resection. Methods A sample of middle-aged and young lung cancer patients who underwent VATS lung resection at the Department of Thoracic Surgery, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, between March and September 2023 and had returned to work were selected as the study subjects. Data were collected using a general information questionnaire, the Resourcefulness Scale, and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). Univariate analysis and multiple stepwise regression analysis were used to examine the current status of patients’ resourcefulness upon returning to work and its influence on work engagement. Results A total of 219 patients were included in the study, comprising 60 males and 159 females, with a mean age of (43.18±7.55) years. The patients' score for resourcefulness in returning to work was (107.58±14.42) points, and the total score for work engagement was (64.80±12.72) points. A significant positive correlation was observed between the resourcefulness score and the work engagement score (P<0.001). Multiple stepwise regression analysis revealed that factors such as job nature, average monthly household income, postoperative complications, and individuals' level of resourcefulness all significantly influenced the degree of patients' work engagement (all P<0.05).Conclusion The resourcefulness level and work engagement of patients returning to work after VATS lung resection need to be improved.
ObjectiveTo summarize the experience of minimally invasive anterior mediastinal tumor resection in our center, and compare the Da Vinci robotic and video-assisted thoracoscopic approaches in the treatment of mediastinal tumor.MethodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted to continuously enroll 102 patients who underwent minimally invasive mediastinal tumor resection between September 2014 and November 2019 by the single medical group in our department. They were divided into two groups: a robotic group (n=47, 23 males and 24 females, average age of 52 years) and a thoracoscopic group (n=55, 29 males and 26 females, average age of 53 years). The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative thoracic drainage volume, postoperative thoracic drainage time, postoperative hospital stay, hospitalization expense and other clinical data of two groups were compared and analyzed.ResultsAll the patients successfully completed the surgery and recovered from hospital, with no perioperative death. Myasthenia gravis occurred in 4 patients of the robotic group and 5 of the thoracoscopic group. The tumor size was 2.5 (0.8-8.7) cm in the robotic group and 3.0 (0.8-7.7) cm in the thoracoscopic group. Operation time was 62 (30-132) min in the robotic group and 60 (29-118) min in the thoracoscopic group. Intraoperative bleeding volume was 20 (2-50) mL in the robotic group and 20 (5-100) mL in the thoracoscopic group. The postoperative drainage volume was 240 (20-14 130) mL in the robotic group and 295 (20-1 070) mL in the thoracoscopic group. The postoperative drainage time was 2 (1-15) days in the robotic group and 2 (1-5) days in the thoracoscopic group. There was no significant difference between the two groups in the above parameters and postoperative complications (P>0.05). The postoperative hospital stay were 3 (2-18) days in the robotic group and 4 (2-14) in the thoracoscopic group (P=0.014). The hospitalization cost was 67 489(26 486-89 570) yuan in the robotic group and 27 917 (16 817-67 603) yuan in the thoracoscopic group (P=0.000).ConclusionCompared with the video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, Da Vinci robot-assisted surgery owns the same efficacy and safety in the treatment of mediastinal tumor, with shorter postoperative hospital stay, but higher cost.
ObjectiveTo investigate the safety, feasibility and advantages of subxiphoid uni-portal thoracoscopic thymectomy.MethodsClinical data of 65 patients undergoing subxiphoid uni-portal thoracoscopic thymectomy in our hospital from September 2018 to March 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. They were treated as a subxiphoid surgery group, including 36 males and 29 females, aged 49.5 (29-71) years. The incision with the length of about 3 cm was located approximately 1 cm under the xiphoid process. From January 2016 to December 2017, 65 patients received intercostal uni-portal thoracoscopic thymectomy, who were treated as a control group, including 38 males and 27 females, aged 48.9 (33-67) years. All patients who were clinically diagnosed with thymic tumor before surgery were treated with total thymectomy. After surgery, expectoration and analgesia were used.ResultsThere was no statistically significant difference in general clinical data, lesion size, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative catheterization time, postoperative hospital stay and postoperative pathology between the two groups. All operations were successfully completed, and the patients in both groups recovered uneventfully after surgery. Visual analogue scale scores on the 1st, 3rd, 7th and 30th day after surgery in the subxiphoid surgery group were lower than those in the control group.ConclusionThe subxiphoid uni-portal thoracoscopic approach can achieve total thymectomy with less trauma and faster postoperative recovery.
ObjectiveTo compare the effectiveness of thoracoscopic assisted reduction and traditional manual reduction with percutaneous intramedullary nail internal fixation in the treatment of mid-clavicular fractures.MethodsA prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted. Twenty-two patients with mid-clavicular fractures who met the selection criteria between March 2012 and March 2017 were recruited and randomly divided into trial group (7 cases, thoracoscopic assisted reduction and percutaneous intramedullary nail fixation) and control group (15 cases, traditional manual reduction and percutaneous intramedullary nail fixation). There was no significant difference in gender, age, side, cause of injury, fracture classification, interval between injury and operation between the two groups (P>0.05). The operation time and fracture healing time were recorded and compared between the two groups. The effectiveness was evaluated by Constant-Murley scale at 6 months after operation, which included subjective evaluation indexes (functional activity and pain) and objective evaluation indexes (range of motion of shoulder joint and muscle strength).ResultsThe operation time of the trial group was significantly longer than that of the control group (t=5.881, P=0.000). Patients in both groups were followed up 7-20 months, with an average of 11 months. Satisfactory anatomical reduction achieved in all patients, and all incisions healed by first intension. In the control group, 1 patient had difficulty in removing the intramedullary nail, and 1 patient had fracture nonunion. No fracture nonunion or intramedullary nail rupture in the other patients of two groups. There was no significant difference in fracture healing time between the two groups (t=0.764, P=0.453). At 6 months after operation, there was no significant difference in Constant-Murley scale between the two groups (P>0.05).ConclusionThe treatment of the mid-clavicular fracture by using thoracoscopic assisted reduction with intramedullary nail internal fixation requires longer operation time, but does not require fluoroscopy. The effectiveness is comparable to that of traditional surgery.
ObjectiveTo compare the accuracy and safety of semirigid thoracoscopy and rigid thoracoscopy in the diagnosis of unexplained pleural effusion. MethodsA prospective randomized study was conducted, in which the patients with unexplained pleural effusion were enrolled consecutively from March 2012 to March 2014 in West China Hospital. The age of the patients ranged from 18 to 75 years. After informed consent, the subjects were randomized to a semirigid thoracoscopy group or a rigid thoracoscopy group to be examined. ResultsForty-nine patients were assigned to the semirigid thoracoscopy group, and 48 patients were assigned to the rigid thoracoscopy group. After thoracoscopy procedure, 44 patients were confirmed as malignant diseases, and 48 patients were confirmed as benign diseases. The overall diagnostic accuracy was 93.9% for the semirigid procedure and 95.8% for the rigid procedure. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity for malignancy were 96.0% and 100.0% for the semirigid thoracoscopy, and 95.2% and 100.0% for the rigid thoracoscopy, respectively, without statistical significant differences between two groups. All the patients tolerated well with minor complications after two kinds of thoracoscopy. ConclusionsThe diagnostic accuracy of semirigid thoracoscopy and rigid thoracoscopy is comparable in the diagnosis of unexplained pleural diseases. The samples obtained by semirigid thoracoscopy are smaller, but adequate for pathological examination.
ObjectiveTo explore the clinical efficacy of thoracoscopy-assisted modified Nuss procedure for pectus excavatum (PE) in children.MethodsThe clinical data of patients with PE who underwent thoracoscopy-assisted modified Nuss procedure from October 2013 to October 2020 in Daping Hospital were retrospectively analyzed.ResultsA total of 86 patients were collected, including 79 males and 7 females with a mean age of 14.03±3.36 years. The operations were performed successfully in all patients without intraoperative cardiac vascular injury or perioperative death. The mean operation time was 87.30±33.45 min, bleeding volume was 19.94±14.60 mL, and the postoperative hospitalization stay time was 6.89±2.59 d. Early postoperative complications included 2 patients of pneumothorax, 2 patients of wound fat liquefaction and infection, 2 patients of bar flipping and displacement. One patient had bar displacement 1 year after the surgery. The total complication rate was 8.14%. All patients were followed up for 3-42 months. The bars were taken out about 36 months after the surgery. According to the evaluation criteria of orthopedic effect, 68 (79.07%) patients were excellent, 10 (11.63%) patients were good, 5 (5.81%) patients were moderate and 3 (3.49%) patients were poor.ConclusionMinimally invasive and individualized shaping via the Nuss procedure for PE children is safe and convenient, with satisfied effect. It is worthy of popularization in the clinic.
Objective To compare the different surgical treatment methods of thymoma combined with myasthenia gravis (MG), and to discuss the clinical effectiveness of thoracoscopic combined mediastinoscopic extended thymectomy. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 58 patients of thymoma combined with myasthenia gravis in Northern Jiangsu People's Hospital between 2011 and 2016 year. According to the operation method, the patients were divided into three groups including a group A for thoracoscopic thymectomy (n=32), a group B for thoracoscopic combined mediastinoscopic thymectomy (n=15), and a group C for transsternal thymectomy (n=11). The clinical effects were observed and compared. Results In the group A and the group B, the bleeding volume, postoperative hospital stay and other complications were significantly lower than those in the group C with statistical differences (P<0.05). The incidence of myasthenic crisis in the group B (6.7%) was less than that in the group C (36.4 %), but the difference was not statistically different (P=0.058). The operation time of the three groups was 122.0 ± 39.4 min, 130.3 ± 42.5 min, and 142.3 ± 40.8 min respectively with no statistical difference between the two groups (P>0.05). The rate of dissection grade in the group B (grade 1, 12 patients, 80%) was significantly greater than that in the group A (grade 1, 14 patients, 43.8%,P<0.05). The effective rate of the group A, the group B, the group C was 84.4%, 93.3% and 90.9%, respectively with no statistical difference between groups (P>0.05). Conclusion The thoracoscopy combined mediastinoscopic thymectomy not only has the advantages of less trauma, quicker recovery and fewer complications, but also can more thoroughly clean the thymus and adipose tissue, which can achieve the same therapeutic effect as the transsternal thymectomy.
Surgical treatment of atrial septal defect (ASD) mainly includes occlusion or repair under cardiopulmonary bypass. Surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation includes transcatheter radiofrequency ablation or Maze surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass. There are many treatments for ASD patients combined with atrial fibrillation, but each has its own advantages and disadvantages. We reported an ASD patient combined with atrial fibrillation treated by totally endoscopic "one-stop" radiofrequency ablation and simultaneous transthoracic ASD occlusion of atrial fibrillation, with good postoperative results.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy of video-assisted thoracoscopic sleeve lobectomy in the treatment of central non-small cell lung cancer.MethodsThe clinical data of 105 patients with central non-small cell lung cancer who underwent sleeve lobectomy surgery in the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University and Shanxi Cancer Hospital from December 2014 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed, including 83 males and 22 females, with an average age of 57.4 (32.6-77.8) years and weight of 62.5 (52.4-79.1) kg. Thirty-five patients received video-assisted thoracoscopic sleeve lobectomy (a group A), and 70 patients received traditional thoracotomy sleeve lobectomy (a group B). The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, number of lymph node dissection, postoperative complication rate, early postoperative mortality, total thoracic drainage volume at 24 hours, time of indwelling chest tube after operation, pain score at 24 hours after operation, postoperative hospital stay, postoperative short-term (1 month, 6 months and 1 year) quality of life score and postoperative 3-year survival rate of two groups were compared.ResultsThere was statistical difference in the operation time (228.1±24.7 min vs. 175.0±23.7 min, P=0.02), postoperative complication rate (28.6% vs. 34.3%, P=0.04), postoperative pain score at 24 h (3.6±3.5 points vs. 5.9±2.0 points, P=0.03) and postoperative indwelling chest tube time (5.0±2.9 d vs. 8.4±2.1 d, P=0.04) between the two groups. There was no statistical difference in the intraoperative blood loss (182.5±36.9 mL vs. 189.8±27.5 mL, P=0.34), number of lymph node dissections (11.1±2.6 vs. 12.3±1.9, P=0.49), early postoperative mortality (2.9% vs. 4.3%, P=0.31), total thoracic drainage volume at 24 h after surgery (346.8±91.1 mL vs. 329.8±101.4 mL, P=0.27), postoperative hospital stay (7.9±4.2 d vs. 8.5±3.4 d, P=0.39) and 3-year postoperative survival rate (68.6% vs. 72.9%, P=0.82) between the two groups.ConclusionVideo-assisted thoracoscopic sleeve lobectomy for the treatment of central non-small cell lung cancer is safe and feasible. Compared with traditional thoracotomy for sleeve lobectomy, fewer postoperative complications occur, body recovers faster and the quality of life is higher within the postoperative 6 months. Besides, the 3-year survival rate can achieve similar oncological prognosis results.