Analysis of bronchiectasis patients who underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in a tertiary thoracic surgery center: Ten years of experience.

ABSTRACT

Background: This study aimed to analyze our video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) experience in the surgical treatment of bronchiectasis and the reasons limiting VATS application. Methods: Two hundred one patients (106 males, 95 females; mean age 39.7±14.1 years; range, 12 to 68 years) who underwent surgical treatment for bronchiectasis between January 2012 and October 2021 were included in the retrospective study. Three groups were created based on the surgical technique used VATS, thoracotomy, and patients who were converted from VATS to thoracotomy. Results: The most significant presenting symptoms were cough (43%) and excessive sputum expectoration (40%). Surgical intervention was applied to the left side of 60% of the patients, and the most common resection performed in all three groups was left lower lobectomy. The rate of conversion from VATS to thoracotomy was 28.8%, and it was found that dense pleural adhesions were the most common reason. Revision surgery was performed on a total of 11 (5.47%) patients. The frequency of revision surgery did not differ significantly among the three groups (p=0.943). The most common postoperative complication was prolonged air leakage. There was no statistically significant difference in postoperative complication rates among the groups (p=0.417). The rate of surgical treatment of bronchiectasis with VATS was observed to have increased from 11.1% to 77.7% in our clinic. Conclusion: In experienced hands, VATS can be safely applied in the surgical treatment of bronchiectasis.