Video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy in children: safety and efficacy compared with the conventional thoracotomy approach.

OBJECTIVE: There have been only small numbers of reports for video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy in children because of its technically demanding aspects. This study was performed to evaluate the safety and the efficacy of the VATS lobectomy compared with the conventional lobectomy by thoracotomy and to investigate the risk factors of thoracotomy conversion.

METHODS: From May 2005 to October 2010, a total of 37 pediatric patients underwent VATS lobectomy and 28 pediatric patients underwent conventional lobectomy. The VATS lobectomy group consisted of relatively older patients compared with the thoracotomy group. Clinical outcomes from the two groups were analyzed and compared.

RESULTS: Of the 37 patients in the VATS group, 8 patients (23%) required thoracotomy conversion and 29 patients (77%) were successfully operated on thoracoscopically. There were no in-hospital mortalities in both groups. Annual thoracotomy conversion rate has decreased from 50% in 2005 to 9% in 2010. There were no significant differences in the outcome between the VATS group and the thoracotomy group. Morbidities in the VATS group included prolonged drainage longer than 7 days (two patients), prolonged air leakage (two patients), and bleeding (one patient). There was no difference in the incidence of morbidities between the two groups. Univariate analyses revealed failure of single-lung ventilation (P = 0.007) and history of pneumonia (P = 0.001) to be risk factors of thoracotomy conversion.

CONCLUSIONS: Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery lobectomy in children is a safe and effective treatment modality, with results comparable with those of conventional lobectomy. In the univariate analysis, failure of single-lung ventilation and history of pneumonia were the two factors related to thoracotomy conversion.