Reduced Port Thoracoscopic Surgery for Mediastinal and Pleural Disease: Experiences in a Single Institution.

Tamura, Masaya; Shimizu, Yosuke; Hashizume, Yasuo

The purpose of this study was to present our current experience with reduced port thoracoscopic surgery (RPTS) for the treatment of mediastinal and pleural disease and thereafter discuss its indications and technical challenges. A total of 11 patients underwent surgery by the RPTS approach for the following conditions: thymoma (n = 2), bronchogenic cyst (n = 2), metastatic pleural tumor, thymic cyst, solitary fibrous tumor, pulmonary sequestration, pericardial cyst, neurinoma, and malignant lymphoma (n = 1). An Endo Relief forceps (Hope Denshi Co, Ltd, Chiba, Japan) was used for three of the surgical procedures. The elements of the data set consisted of gender, age, duration of operation, drain placement, hospital stay, mass location, and mass size. The median surgical time was 45 min (range, 40-78 min). There were no intraoperative complications and no need for a second surgery to open additional ports. The duration until chest tube removal was 1 day for all the cases. The median hospital stay was 4 days (range, 3-6 days). The median mass size was 2.2 cm (range, 1.2-4.2 cm). The median length of skin incision was 2.0 cm (range, 2.0-3.5 cm). In conclusion, RPTS for mediastinal and pleural disease may be a possible alternative approach to conventional multiportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). Although it is technically plausible and feasible for selected cases, the issues of patient acceptability and cosmetic and oncological results remain to be determined in the future with randomized-controlled trials and long-term follow-up.