Evaluation of the results of surgery treatment in patients with benign lung tumors

BACKGROUND: Lung tumors are among the common tumors and can be benign or malignant. Benign lung tumors are less common compared to the malignant types. Recognition of the clinical symptoms, types of tumors, paraclinical findings, and treatment approaches can bring better therapeutic results. The present study aims to evaluate the characteristics, diagnosis methods, and therapeutic approaches of different benign lung tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, 32 patients with a diagnosis of benign lung tumor, who had been referred to the Mashhad University of Medical Sciences between 1981 and 2009, were studied. Some of the studied variables were symptoms, the pulmonary location involved, surgery technique, pathology findings, recurrence, and surgery complications. Data were analyzed by SPSS package version 16. RESULTS: The average age of the patients was 51.69 ± 20.5 years. Prevalence of benign lung tumors was equal in both genders. The most common symptom was cough (31.2%); right lung involvement was more common (71.9%), and the most common sampling technique was transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) (62.5%); 53.1% of the patients were operated on by thoracotomy and the wedge resection technique. In 78.1% of the patients, no complications occurred after surgery. There was no recurrence. Most operations were performed in one month after the start of the symptoms (68.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Benign lung tumors are commonly diagnosed by routine radiography because most of them are asymptomatic. The most common finding in radiography is the presence of mass in the lungs. Transbronchial lung biopsy is a valuable technique to be used for diagnosis. We chose thoracotomy and wedge resection for the treatment of patients. We recommend this approach as a useful method.