Poor preoperative quality of life predicts prolonged hospital stay after VATS lobectomy for lung cancer

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to assess whether quality of life (QoL) scales are associated with postoperative length of stay (LoS) following video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy for lung cancer.

METHODS

This is a single-centre retrospective analysis on 250 consecutive patients submitted to VATS lobectomies (233) or segmentectomies (17) over a period of 3 years. QoL was assessed in all patients by the self-administration of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30 questionnaire. The individual QoL scales were tested for possible association with LoS along with other objective baseline and surgical parameters using univariable and multivariable analyses.

RESULTS

Thirty-day cardiopulmonary and mortality rates were 22% and 2.4%. The median LoS was 4 days [interquartile range (IQR) 3-7]. Fifty-one (20%) patients remained in hospital longer than 7 days after surgery (upper quartile). General health [global health score (GHS)] (P = 0.019), physical function (P = 0.014) and role functioning (P = 0.016) scales were significantly worse in patients with prolonged stay. They were highly correlated between each other and tested separately in different logistic regression analyses. The best model resulted the one containing GHS (P = 0.032) along with age, low force expiratory volume in 1 s and carbon monoxide lung diffusion capacity and history of cerebrovascular disease. Fifty-nine patients had GHS <58 (lower interquartile value). Thirty-one percent of them experienced prolonged hospital stay (vs 17% of those with higher GHS, P = 0.027).

CONCLUSIONS

Preoperative patient-reported QoL was associated with prolonged postoperative hospital stay. Baseline QoL status should be taken into consideration to implement psychosocial supportive programmes in the context of enhanced recovery after surgery.

Operating room scheduling is not associated with early outcome following elective anatomic lung resections: a propensity score case-matched analysis

Objectives

To investigate the effect of operating room scheduling on the outcome of patients undergoing elective lung resection.

Methods

In total, 420 patients submitted to anatomical pulmonary resections (363 lobectomies, 35 pneumonectomies, 22 segmentectomies) (April 2014-November 2015) were analysed. Ninety-two patients (22%) were operated on during weekends (Friday or Saturday) and 161 patients (38%) in the afternoon. Propensity score matching was performed to account for possible selection bias between the groups. The matched groups (weekdays versus weekends; morning versus afternoon) were compared in terms of cardiopulmonary complications, in-hospital mortality and length of stay (LOS).

Results

In total, 102 (24%) patients developed cardiopulmonary complications and 56 (13%) patients developed major complications. In-hospital mortality was 3.1% (13 patients). The case-matched comparison between patients operated on during the week versus those operated on during weekends (92 pairs) showed no differences of cardiopulmonary morbidity (22 vs 24, P  = 0.8), major complications (14 in both groups), mortality (2 vs 4, P  = 0.7) and LOS (7 vs 7.5 days, P  = 0.6). The case-matched comparison between patients operated on in the morning versus those operated on in the afternoon (161 pairs) showed no differences of cardiopulmonary morbidity (32 vs 33, P  = 0.9), major morbidity (17 vs 19, P  = 1), mortality (7 vs 4, P  = 0.5) and LOS (7.2 vs 5.9 days, P  = 0.2).

Conclusions

In our setting, operating room scheduling did not affect early outcome following elective lung resections, confirming the appropriate structural and procedural characteristics of a dedicated Thoracic Unit.

Totally Endoscopic (VATS) First Rib Resection for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

BACKGROUND

Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) causes neurologic symptoms in 95% of cases and vascular symptoms in 5% of cases. Surgical resection is curative. Endoscopic-assisted transaxillary first rib resection has been previously reported. In this study we report a totally endoscopic video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) approach using tailored endoscopic instruments.

METHODS

Ten patients (8 women; average age, 32.3 ± 5.6 years) with TOS underwent VATS first rib resection following failure of symptom improvement with physiotherapy. Symptoms were: unilateral neurogenic (n = = 7), bilateral neurogenic (n = = 2), and bilateral arterial compression (n = = 1). Three standard VATS ports were utilized. The parietal pleura and periosteum overlying the first rib were stripped avoiding injury to the neurovascular bundle. The rib was transected with an endoscopic rib cutter and resected completely in a piecemeal fashion using endoscopic bone nibblers. All periosteal remnants were trimmed releasing the neurovascular bundle completely.

RESULTS

Patients were discharged within 72 hours following surgery. One patient had the contralateral side treated 18 months later and another patient is awaiting the second surgery. At follow-up, 9 patients had complete resolution of their main symptoms. One patient with neurogenic TOS developed mild functional and sensational loss of the non-dominant hand that improved within 8 months with physiotherapy.

CONCLUSIONS

VATS first rib resection for TOS provides, unlike the classic approaches, a superior, magnified, and well-illuminated view of the thoracic inlet. It allows good posterior trimming of the first rib, release of brachial plexus, and an aesthetically pleasing result, especially in female patients.

Performance of wider parenchymal lung resection than preoperatively planned in patients with low preoperative lung function performance undergoing video-assisted thoracic surgery major lung resection

OBJECTIVES

Pulmonary assessment before major lung resections is used to determine patient's operability. In marginal cases, extensive pulmonary assessment is additionally important under the fear of a more radical parenchymal removal. This study investigates the outcome of wider lung parenchymal resections in patients with low lung functional status undergoing video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) major lung resection.

METHODS

The medical records of patients who underwent VATS major lung resection for cancer, over a period of 5 years (August 2009-August 2014), were retrospectively reviewed. Patients with postoperative forced expiratory volume in first second (ppoFEV1) or postoperative diffusional capacity for carbon monoxide (ppoDLCO) <40% who underwent wider lung resection than preoperatively planned (Group A) were compared with patients with ppoFEV1 or ppoDLCO <40% who underwent the planned operation (Group B) and patients with ppoFEV1 and ppoDLCO >40% who underwent wider resection than preoperatively planned (Group C). Data analysed included demographics, past medical history, the surgery planned and performed, the reason for higher parenchymal resection, the clinical and pathological stage, the length of stay (LOS), the morbidity, the 30-day mortality and the survival.

RESULTS

Overall, 73 patients were analysed (15 patients in Group A, 50 patients in Group B and 8 patients in Group C). The mean age was 68.5 years and 31.5% were males. The wider lung resection regarded 7 patients who underwent bilobectomy instead of lobectomy and 16 patients who underwent pneumonectomy instead of lobectomy. The main reason for higher resection was the wider invasion of the mass (21 patients). The age, gender and body mass index between three groups were similar, whereas ppoFEV1 and ppoDLCO were different (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001 respectively). Conversions, pulmonary morbidity and the 30-day mortality between groups were similar (P = 0.67, P = 0.88 and P = 0.33, respectively). LOS between groups was not different (P = 0.46). Survival rate between groups was also similar (log-rank, P = 0.79).

CONCLUSIONS

Wider lung parenchymal resection than preoperatively anticipated may be performed, even in patients with low lung functional status, without increased adverse outcome when compared with patients with good lung function. This finding indicates that the preoperative risk stratification based on lung function tests is questionable.

The evolution of intraoperative conversion in video assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy

INTRODUCTION Unplanned conversion to thoracotomy remains a major concern in video assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy. This study aimed to investigate the development of a VATS lobectomy programme over a five-year period, with a focus on the causes and consequences of unplanned conversions. METHODS A single centre retrospective review was performed of patients who underwent complete anatomical lung resection initiated by VATS between January 2010 and April 2015. RESULTS In total, 1,270 patients underwent a lobectomy in the study period and 684 (53.9%) of these were commenced thoracoscopically. There were 75 cases (10.9%) with unplanned conversion. The proportion of lobectomies started as VATS was significantly higher in the second half of the study period (2010-2012: 277/713 [38.8%], 2013-2015: 407/557 [73.1%], p<0.001). The conversion rate dropped initially from 20.4% (11/54) in 2010 to 9.9% (15/151) in 2013 and then remained consistently under 10% until 2015. Conversions were most commonly secondary to vascular injury (26/75, 34.7%). Patients undergoing unplanned conversion had a longer length of stay than VATS completed patients (9 vs 6 days, p<0.001). There was a higher incidence of respiratory failure (10/75 [14.1%] vs 23/607 [3.8%], p<0.001) and 30-day mortality (7/75 [9.3%] vs 6/607 [1.0%], p=0.003) in patients with unplanned conversion than in those with completed VATS. CONCLUSIONS As our VATS lobectomy programme developed, the unplanned conversion rate dropped initially and then remained constant at approximately 10%. With increasing unit experience, it is both safe and technically possible to complete the majority of lobectomy procedures thoracoscopically.

Major morbidity after video-assisted thoracic surgery lung resections: a comparison between the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons definition and the Thoracic Morbidity and Mortality system

BACKGROUND

The thoracic morbidity and mortality (TM&M) classification system univocally encodes the postoperative adverse events by their management complexity. This study aims to compare the distribution of the severity of complications according to the TM&M system versus the distribution according to the classification proposed by European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) Database in a population of patients submitted to video assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lung resection.

METHODS

A total of 227 consecutive patients submitted to VATS lobectomy for lung cancer were analyzed. Any complication developed postoperatively was graded from I to V according to the TM&M system, reflecting the increasing severity of its management. We verified the distribution of the different grades of complications and analyzed their frequency among those defined as "major cardiopulmonary complications" by the ESTS Database.

RESULTS

Following the ESTS definitions, 20 were the major cardiopulmonary complications [atrial fibrillation (AF): 10, 50%; adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS): 1, 5%; pulmonary embolism: 2, 10%; mechanical ventilation >24 h: 1, 5%; pneumonia: 3, 15%; myocardial infarct: 1, 5%; atelectasis requiring bronchoscopy: 2, 10%] of which 9 (45%) were reclassified as minor complications (grade II) by the TM&M classification system. According to the TM&M system, 10/34 (29.4%) of all complications were considered minor (grade I or II) while 21/34 (71.4%) as major (IIIa: 8, 23.5%; IIIb: 4, 11.7%; IVa: 8, 23.5%; IVb: 1, 2.9%; V: 3, 8.8%). Other 14 surgical complications occurred and were classified as major complications according to the TM&M system.

CONCLUSIONS

The distribution of postoperative complications differs between the two classification systems. The TM&M grading system questions the traditional classification of major complications following VATS lung resection and may be used as an additional endpoint for outcome analyses.

High-risk patients and postoperative complications following video-assisted thoracic surgery lobectomy: a case-matched comparison with lower-risk counterparts†

OBJECTIVES

To assess the postoperative incidence of major complications in high-risk patients following video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy for lung cancer compared with their lower risk counterparts.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis on prospectively collected data of 348 consecutive patients subjected to VATS lobectomy (August 2012-September 2014) was performed. Patients were defined as high risk if one or more of the following characteristics were present: age >75 years, forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) <50%, carbon monoxide lung diffusion capacity (DLCO) <50%, history of coronary artery disease (CAD). Severity of complications was graded using the Thoracic Morbidity and Mortality (TM&M) score; major complications were defined if the TM&M score was greater than 2. The propensity score was used to match high-risk patients with their lower risk counterparts in order to minimize the influence of other confounders on outcome. The following variables were used to construct the propensity score: gender, side of operation, body mass index, American Society of Anaesthesiologists score, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group score, Charlson's Comorbidity Index, number of functioning segments resected.

RESULTS

The high-risk group consisted of 141 patients (age >75 years: 84 patients; FEV1 <50: 14 patients; DLCO <50: 25 patients; history of CAD: 37 patients). The propensity score yielded two groups of 135 patients (high-risk vs low-risk) well matched for several baseline characteristics except for a lower performance status in the higher-risk group. Compared with their low-risk counterparts, high-risk patients had a higher incidence of cardiopulmonary complications (28 cases, 21% vs 14 cases, 10%; P < 0.0001) and major cardiopulmonary complications (12 cases, 9% vs 3 cases, 2%; P < 0.0001). Postoperative stay was 3 days longer in high-risk patients (8.6 vs 5.5 days, P = 0.0031). The 30-day or in-hospital mortality rates were not different between the two groups (2 cases, 1.5% vs 3 cases, 2.2%, P = 0.93).

CONCLUSIONS

The incidence of major complications after VATS lobectomy in high-risk patients is low, but not negligible. This information can be used when discussing surgical risk with the patient during preoperative counselling.

Novel technique in managing bronchobiliary fistula in adults: Endobronchial embolization using silicone spigots in 2 cases

Bronchobiliary fistula (BBF) can complicate most hepatic pathologies. This is a challenging group of patients, especially when surgery is precluded. The bronchoscopic application of silicon spigots is a recognized technique for the treatment of massive hemoptysis and the management of patients with bronchopleural fistula following lung resection. Their role in the treatment of BBF has never been described. In this paper we report the successful embolization using silicon spigots in two patients with BBF secondary to malignant disease, when all surgical options were exhausted.

Simultaneous bilateral carotid endarterectomy under local anesthesia

A 75-year-old man with bilateral carotid stenosis and severe coronary artery disease underwent successful simultaneous bilateral carotid endarterectomy under local anesthesia. A few days later, coronary artery bypass grafting was performed with no complications.