Tractotomy using the Penrose drain guide for deep lung injury caused by chest drainage: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary tractotomy effectively treats deep pulmonary penetrating injuries; however, it requires the accurate insertion of forceps or a stapler into the wound tract. This report describes a case of tractotomy using the Penrose drain guide for a deep lung injury caused by chest drainage. CASE PRESENTATION: A 75-year-old man suffered multiple rib fractures and hemothorax. After admission, chest tube drainage was performed because the patient's respiratory condition deteriorated due to increased right pleural effusion. However, as the chest tube was stabbing into the right upper lobe, a pulmonary tractotomy was performed to treat the injury. Cutting the visceral pleura just over the tip of the chest tube caused the tube to completely penetrate the lung. A Penrose drain tube was fixed to the chest tube, which was then removed. The Penrose drain tube completely penetrated the lung and was coupled to the anvil side of the stapler to guide it smoothly into the wound tract. After stapling left the wound tract open, selective suture ligation of the damaged vessel and bronchioles was performed. CONCLUSIONS: Although the indications for tractotomy using the Penrose drain guide are limited, we believe that this technique can be useful in patients with deep stabbing or penetrating lung injuries with rod- or tube-shaped foreign body remnants.

Massive hemothorax in a pregnant patient with neurofibromatosis type 1.

BACKGROUND: Reports of spontaneous hemothorax in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 are scarce despite the severe complication. We herein present the first case of hemothorax in a neurofibromatosis type 1 patient during pregnancy and discuss the difficulty associated with its diagnosis and treatment. CASE PRESENTATION: A 39-year-old female at 34 weeks gestation presented with sudden left back pain and dyspnea. Chest radiography revealed massive left pleural effusion. Computed tomography showed bleeding from the intercostal artery. Although the patient appeared hemodynamically stable, the fetus was in a critical condition. Emergency caesarean section was performed within 1 hour. Subsequently, we performed endovascular coil embolization of the intercostal artery. While this intensive treatment saved the patient, her fetus could not be rescued. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 may develop massive hemothorax without gross lesions. In late pregnancy, sufficient infusion and quick hemostasis are essential and can be lifesaving.

[Traumatic Cardiac Injury due to Striking at Epigastric Fossa;Report of a Case].

Blunt chest trauma can cause life-threatening condition. We performed prompt drainage and operative repair for traumatic cardiac injury caused by striking at epigastric fossa. Close monitoring should be needed even for blunt chest trauma due to assault.

[Intractable Myasthenia Gravis Accompanied with Thymoma;Report of a Case].

A 46-year-old female visited a hospital due to pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and then her chest computed tomography revealed an abnormal shadow in the upper mediastinum. Four months later,she complained muscle weakness with her limbs, dysphagia, and ptosis of her eyelids. Total thymectomy was performed through a median sternotomy for mass lesion, which was pathologically proven to be type B1 thymoma. Postoperative myasthenia gravis (MG) crisis, which led to respiratory failure requiring intubation and mechanical ventilation, developed and laboratory tests showed elevated serum anti-AChR Ab(130 nmol/l), antinuclear antibody( ×640 serum dilution, speckled pattern) and anti-RNP Ab(129.2 U/ml). For MG crisis, steroid pulse therapy, immunosuppressive therapy and immuno absorption were performed, and she successfully weaned from mechanical ventilaton on 41 post operative day (POD). Some factors such as inapparent mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) and Anti RNP antibody were thought to be a cause for having any difficulty in MG treatment in the present case.

New technique for fixing rib fracture with bioabsorbable plate.

Fixation of a bone fracture with a bioabsorbable plate made of poly-L-lactide and hydroxyapatite has received attention. We adopted this technique for a rib fracture by bending the plate into a U-shape and fixing it with suture through the holes in the mesh of the plate and holes that are drilled in the edge of the fractured rib. The suture is also wound around the plate.

[Pneumothorax Secondary to Pulmonary Metastasis of Angiosarcoma of the Scalp;Report of a Case].

Angiosarcoma has been reported as a rare case, having high potential of hematogeneous lung metastasis and then developing to pneumothorax with ease. The patient was a 74-year-old man afflicted with a malignant hemangio endothelioma (MHE) of the scalp. His MHE of the scalp was resected and skin grafting was made, then, he was administered docetaxel hydrate intravenously as adjuvant setting. Three years after, he complainted left chest pain and dyspnea, so his chest Xp was checked up and showed left pneumothorax. Chest computed tomography revealed multiple thin walled cavities of right and left lung and bullae with slightly thick walled cavity at apex legion of the left lung. We resected bullae with tumor of the left apex legion under video assisted thoracic surgery. After operation, He was administerd ricombinant interleukin-2 intravenously in order to control lung metastasis of the scalp, but his condition deteriorated and 6 months after pneumothorax he died. The average survival time from the 1st pneumothorax episode was only 4.7 months. He kept a good activities of daily living without reccurrence of pneumothorax by operation, so we thought that the operaion for pneumothorax with MHE was one option for therapy.

[Thoracic and abdominal and limb wounds by gun shot].

In Japan, we are permitted to own fire arms only for hunting and clay pigeon shooting, but gunshot wound victims have neen rarely seen due to the strict laws against owing guns, and the lack of related crimes. Therefore, surgeons should be familiar with ballistics, practical gunshot wound management, and the possibility of delayed lead poisoning ssociated with bullet residue. A 69-year-old man was brought to our hospital because he was accidentally shot by his companion's shotgun during hunting. On admission, although he had stable vital sign and multiple gunshot wounds on his right forearm and femur, chest X-ray and computed tomography (CT) revealed a few of bullets and its flagments on his back, into spleen and pericardium. Following local debridment after removal of the bullets in his right forearm and femur at an emergency room, broken heart muscle and diaphragm were repaired and hematoma in the anterior mediastinum was removed at the operating room. The patient was discharged on the 25th post-operative day and his post-operative course was uneventful. In case of gunshot injuries, in addition to prompt diagnosis and evaluation of organ injuries, careful follow up for possible delayed lead poisoning is important.

[Diaphragmatic lipoma needed to distinguish from Bochdalek hernia; report of a case].

A 69-year-old woman had been followed up for an abnormal shadow on the left diaphragm at a nearby hospital, which showed gradual increase in size and she was referred to our hospital for treatment. Chest computed tomography(CT) showed a dome-shaped and homogeneous mass with smooth surface on the left diaphragm. CT showed 50×60 mm hypodense mass and partly interrupted diaphragm. Magnetic resonance imaging( MRI) revealed fat signal intensity on both T1 and T2 weighted image and fat suppressed T1 image. Bochdalek hernia or diaphragm lipoma was suggested and surgery was done. Yellowish round tumor on the diaphragm was resected. The omentum was easily separated from the tumor. Histopathological finding revealed the lipoma cell invading into striated muscle of diaphragm, and the tumor was diagnosed as a mature lipoma originated from diaphragm.

Complications of bronchial stapling in thoracic surgery.

OBJECTIVE: The use of staplers for thoracic surgery has been widely accepted and regarded as a safe procedure. However, complications of stapling are occasionally experienced. The aim of this retrospective study was to analyze complications of bronchial stapling. METHODS: A retrospective multi-institutional review was conducted by the Central Japan Lung Cancer Surgery Study Group, comprising 29 institutions. All instances of bronchial stapling in thoracic surgery were reviewed during the research period. RESULTS: Bronchial stapling was performed 2,030 times, using 36 kinds of staplers. The total number of complications related to stapling was 36 (1.8 %); 31 events occurred intraoperatively and five events occurred postoperatively. The intraoperative complications were air leakage (N = 20) and stapling failure (N = 11), which were caused by stapler-tissue thickness mismatch (N = 17), stapler defect (N = 3), tissue fragility (N = 2), and unknown reasons (N = 9). In all 31 cases, intraoperative complications were recovered intraoperatively with additional suturing, and no further complications were observed postoperatively. The postoperative complications were bronchopleural fistula (BPF) (N = 4) and bleeding from the chest wall (intercostal artery) (N = 1). The rate of BPF was 0.2 % (4 of 2,030). Two of four BPFs induced critical conditions. Postoperative bleeding was caused by the use of Duet TRS(TM). Both total complications and BPF occurred more frequently in the main bronchus than in the lobar or segmental bronchus. No relationship was seen between the incidence of complications and cartridge colors in lobar bronchial stapling. The compression types of staplers were associated with the incidence of complication. CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative and postoperative complications of bronchial stapling were studied. Generally, bronchial stapling in recent thoracic surgery was safe, but rare postoperative complications may induce critical conditions. Knowledge of potential complications and causes of bronchial stapling may decrease the incidence of stapling complications.