Combined transcervical and thoracoscopic mediastinal parathyroid adenoma resection

Split Sternotomy in Retrosternal Thyroid and Mediastinal Parathyroid Pathologies

Objectives

Although cervical incisions are usually sufficient in mediastinal located thyroid and parathyroid pathologies, sometimes mediastinal approaches are required. In recent years, less invasive methods have been used instead of median sternotomy. In this study, the adequacy of the incision and morbidity in patients who underwent split sternotomy due to retrosternal goiter (RG) and mediastinal parathyroid pathology in our clinic were investigated.

Methods

The files of patients who underwent split sternotomy in addition to cervical incision or split sternotomy extending from the sternal notch to the third intercostal space with a separate vertical incision due to retrosternal thyroid pathology or mediastinal ectopic parathyroid adenoma between January 2010 and January 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. Operative success, exposure provided by split sternotomy, and complication rates were investigated.

Results

Twelve patients who underwent split sternotomy were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 57.25±12.62 (44-83) years. Eight (66.7%) of the patients were female and 4 (33.3%) were male. The indication for surgery was multinodular goiter (MNG) in 3 (25%) patients, recurrent MNG in 3 (25%) patients, hyperparathyroidism in 3 (25%) patients, and thyroid cancer in 3 (25%) patients. Transient hypocalcemia in 6 (50%) patients and unilateral vocal cord paralysis in 1 (8.3%) patient developed postoperatively, and all complications resolved spontaneously in an average of 3 weeks. Median sternotomy was not required for any of the patients.

Conclusion

Split sternotomy is an adequate and applicable method for the success of the surgery in RG and mediastinal parathyroid pathologies that cannot be excised with the cervical approach.

Effect of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery on pain stress indicators NO, IL-1β and IL-6 in the treatment of mediastinal tumor in children

This study aimed to investigate the effect of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) on pain stress indicators nitric oxide (NO), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-6 in the treatment of mediastinal tumor in children, so as to explore the clinical application value of this surgery. A retrospective analysis was performed on 82 children with mediastinal tumor undergoing operation in Children's Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University from January 2012 to January 2016. Among them, 48 children undergoing VATS were enrolled as an observation group, and 34 children undergoing conventional thoracotomy were enrolled as a control group. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the preoperative and postoperative expression levels of NO, IL-1β and IL-6. The intraoperative clinical data, postoperative pain degree and infection rate were observed and recorded in real time, and then compared between the two groups. Before operation (T₀), there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in serum NO, IL-1β and IL-6 expression levels, which were lower in the observation group than those in the control group at 12 h (T₁) and 24 h (T₂) after operation (P<0.05). The visual analog scale (VAS) score in the observation group was lower than that in the control group at T₁ (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the largest blade opening, intraoperative blood loss, drainage duration and postoperative pain degree were significantly improved in the observation group. The postoperative infection rate was 4.17% in the observation group, significantly lower than 17.64% in the control group. VATS is effective for postoperative pain stress indicators and infection control in children with mediastinal tumor, which is therefore more suitable for children with the disease and has a higher clinical value.