The Indian Journal of Chest Diseases and Allied Sciences

Register      Login

VOLUME 65 , ISSUE 1 ( January-March, 2023 ) > List of Articles

Original Article

Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax: Surgery for the First Occurrence? An Early Experience from Nepal

Ranjan Sapkota, Arjun Gurung, Aakriti Sharma

Keywords : Bullectomy, First episode, Pneumothorax, Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery

Citation Information : Sapkota R, Gurung A, Sharma A. Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax: Surgery for the First Occurrence? An Early Experience from Nepal. Indian J Chest Dis Allied Sci 2023; 65 (1):18-21.

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-11007-0055

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Published Online: 29-06-2023

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2023; The Author(s).


Abstract

Background: Primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) is a common thoracic surgical emergency affecting otherwise healthy young individuals. Its treatment options range from observation to surgery in the form of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). Surgery, generally reserved for recurrence, is gradually being utilized for certain patients presenting with PSP for the first time. In this study, we aim to report our experience of VATS in the surgical management of first episodes of PSP. Methods: A retrospective review of prospectively maintained data on all the patients undergoing surgical management during the first presentation of PSP, over a period of 10 years, was done. Results: Over the period of 10 years, out of 95 patients who underwent thoracoscopic bullectomy for pneumothorax, a total of 42 patients had presented with PSP for the first time. Most (54%) were aged 20–40 years, with male predominance (83%); right-sided (69%); commonest symptom was shortness of breath (83.3%) with a median duration of symptoms of 5.9 days. Apical bullae were the commonest computed tomographic finding (88%). Majority of the patients underwent VATS via three ports, and multiple apical bullae were the most common intraoperative findings. Four patients (9.5%) had an air leak postoperatively, managed conservatively. Average intensive care unit stay was 23 hours; average chest tube duration was 3.6 days; and the average hospital stay was 8.2 days. There was no 30-day mortality and no recurrences were noted during a median follow-up of 2 years. Conclusion: Our initial experience with surgery for the first episode of PSP has been shown to be safe and effective. Larger and more robust studies with longer follow-ups would be necessary to better delineate the role of surgery in such patients.


HTML PDF Share
  1. Cardillo G, Ricciardi S, Rahman N, et al. Primary spontaneous pneumothorax: Time for surgery at first episode? J Thorac Dis 2019;11(Suppl 9):S1393–S1397. DOI: 10.21037/jtd.2019.03.22.
  2. Levi JF, Kleinmann P, Riquet M, et al. Percutaneous parietal pleurectomy for recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax. Lancet 1990;336(8730–8731):1577–1578. DOI: 10.1016/0140-6736(90)93351-o.
  3. Sawada S, Watanabe Y, Moriyama S. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for primary spontaneous pneumothorax: Evaluation of indications and long-term outcome compared with conservative treatment and open thoracotomy. Chest 2005;127(6):2226–2230. DOI: 10.1378/chest.127.6.2226.
  4. Goto T, Kadota Y, Mori T, et al. Video-assisted thoracic surgery for pneumothorax: Republication of a systematic review and a proposal by the guideline committee of the Japanese Association for Chest Surgery 2014. Gen Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2015;63(1):8–13. DOI: 10.1007/s11748-014-0468-9.
  5. Lin Z, Zhang Z, Wang Q, et al. A systematic review and meta-analysis of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery treating spontaneous pneumothorax. J Thorac Dis 2021;13(5):3093–3104. DOI: 10.21037/jtd-21-652.
  6. Tschopp JM, Bintcliffe O, Astoul P, et al. ERS task force statement: diagnosis and treatment of primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Eur Respir J 2015;46(2):321–335. DOI: 10.1183/09031936.00219214.
  7. Hallifax RJ, Roberts M, Russel M, et al. Pneumothorax management: Current state of practice in the UK. Respiratory Res 2022;23:23. DOI: 10.1186/s12931-022-01943-9.
  8. Brown SGA, Ball EL, Asha SE, et al. Conservative versus interventional treatment for spontaneous pneumothorax. N Engl J Med 2020;382(5):405–415.
  9. Walker SP, Bibby AC, Halford P, et al. Recurrence rates in primary spontaneous pneumothorax: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur Respir J 2018;52(3):1800864. DOI: 10.1183/13993003.00864-2018.
  10. Chiu H, Ho YC, Yang PC, et al. Recommendation for management of patients with their first episode of primary spontaneous pneumothorax, using video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery or conservative management. Sci Rep 2021;11(1):10874. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-90113-w.
  11. Kepka S, Dalphin JC, Parmentier AL, et al. Primary spontaneous pneumothorax admitted in emergency unit: Does first episode differ from recurrence? A cross-sectional study. Canad Respir J 2017;article ID 2729548. DOI: 10.1155/2017/2729548.
  12. Hung WT, Chen HM, Wu CH, et al. Recurrence rate and risk factors for recurrence after thoracoscopic surgery for primary spontaneous pneumothorax: A nationwide population-based study. J Formos Med Assoc 2021;120(10):1890–1896. DOI: 10.1016/j.jfma.2020.12.011.
  13. MacDuff A, Arnold A, Harvey J. BTS Pleural Disease Guideline Group. Management of spontaneous pneumothorax: British Thoracic Society Pleural Disease Guideline 2010. Thorax 2010;65(Suppl 2):ii18–ii31. DOI: 10.1136/thx.2010.136986.
  14. Tabakoglu E, Ciftci S, Hatipoglu ON, et al. Levels of superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde in primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Mediator Inflamm 2004;13(3):209–210. DOI: 10.1080/09511920410001713475.
  15. Fatimi SH, Hanif HM, Aziz S, et al. How VATS has changed the management of spontaneous pneumothorax in the 21st century. J Pak Med Assoc 2012;62(10):1041–1045. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23866443.
  16. Fung S, Kivilis M, Krieg A, et al. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery with bullectomy and partial pleurectomy versus chest tube drainage for treatment of secondary spontaneous pneumothorax - A retrospective single-center analysis. Medicina 2022;58(3):354. DOI: 10.3390/medicina58030354.
  17. Vuong NL, Elshafay A, Thao LP, et al. Efficacy of treatments in primary spontaneous pneumothorax: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. Respir Med 2018;137:152–166. DOI: 10.1016/j.rmed.2018.03.009.
  18. Wong A, Galiabovitch E, Bhagwat K. Management of primary spontaneous pneumothorax: A review. ANZ J Surg 2019;89(4):303–308. DOI: 10.1111/ans.14713.
  19. Eren S, Gurkan F, Balci AE, et al. Spontaneous pneumothorax in children in the South-east of Turkey. Pediatr Int 2004;46(5):580–582. DOI: 10.1111/j.1442-200x.2004.01957.x.
  20. Ghisalberti M, Guerrera F, De Vico A, et al. Age and clinical presentation for primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Heart Lung Circ 2020;29(11):1648–1655. DOI: 10.1016/j.hlc.2020.05.107.
  21. Abolnik IZ, Lossos IS, Gillis D, et al. Primary spontaneous pneumothorax in men. Am J Med Sci 1993;305(5):297–303. DOI: 10.1097/00000441-199305000-00006.
  22. van Berkel V, Kuo E, Meyers BF. Pneumothorax, bullous disease, and emphysema. Surg Clin North Am 2010;90(5):935–953. DOI: 10.1016/j.suc.2010.06.008.
  23. Choi J, Ahn HY, Kim YD, et al. Location of ruptured bullae in secondary spontaneous pneumothorax. Korean J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2017;50(6):424–429. DOI: 10.5090/kjtcs.2017.50.6.424.
  24. Cheng YJ, Chou SH, Kao EL. Video-assisted thoracoscopic suture closure of blebs to treat primary spontaneous pneumothorax. JSLS 2004;8(1):35–38. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14974660.
  25. Hatz RA, Kaps MF, Meimarakis G, et al. Long-term results after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for first-time and recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax. Ann Thorac Surg 2000;70(1):253–257. DOI: 10.1016/s0003-4975(00)01411-9.
  26. Tschopp JM, Rami-Porta R, Noppen M, et al. Management of spontaneous pneumothorax: State of the art. Eur Respir J 2006;28(3):637–650. DOI: 10.1183/09031936.06.00014206.
  27. Olesen WH, Katballe N, Sindby JE, et al. Surgical treatment versus conventional chest tube drainage in primary spontaneous pneumothorax: A randomized controlled trial. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 2018;54(1):113–121. DOI: 10.1093/ejcts/ezy003.
  28. Wang P, Zhang L, Zheng H. Comparison of single-port and two-port VATS technique for primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Minim Invasive Ther Allied Technol 2022;31(3):462–467. DOI: 10.1080/13645706.2020.1806077.
  29. Puri HV, Asaf BB, Pulle MV, Bishnoi S, Kumar A. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery management of primary spontaneous pneumothorax: Results in 110 consecutive cases. Lung India 2021;38(1):36–40. DOI: 10.4103/lungindia.lungindia_453_19.
  30. Cardillo G, Facciolo F, Giunti R. Videothoracoscopic treatment of primary spontaneous pneumothorax: a 6-year experience. Ann Thorac Surg 2000;69(2):357–361; discussion 361–362. DOI: 10.1016/s0003-4975(99)01299-0.
  31. Weatherford DA, Stephenson JE, Taylor SM, et al. Thoracoscopy versus thoracotomy: Indications and advantages. Am Surg 1995;61(1):83–86. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7832389.
PDF Share
PDF Share

© Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) LTD.