Thoracoscope and thoracotomy in the treatment of thoracic trauma

OBJECTIVE: To compare clinical effects of thoracoscopic surgery and thoracotomy in the treatment of thoracic trauma. METHODS: Two hundred and fourteen patients with thoracic trauma were randomly divided into a control group and an observation group, 107 in each group. The control group was treated with conventional thoracotomy, while the observation group was treated with thoracoscopic surgery. The operation-related indications, hospitalization, postoperative complications and inflammatory factor level were observed and compared between the two groups. The study was conducted from April 2016 to February 2018. RESULTS: The duration of operation of the observation group was shorter than that of the control group, the amount of bleeding during operation of the observation group was less than that of the control group, and the postoperative visual analogue score (VAS) of the observation group was lower than that of the control group; the difference were statistically significant (P<0.05). The hospitalization time, time of off-bed activity and time of resuming daily life of the observation group were shorter than those of the control group, and the amount of drainage fluid of the observation group within 24 hours after operation was less than that of the control group; the differences had statistical significance (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative complications between the two groups (P>0.05). The levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a and interleukin (IL)-6 in both groups after surgery were higher than those before surgery, but the indicators in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Thoracoscopic surgery can reduce pains of patients, speed up recovery, and reduce incidence of surgical infection in the treatment of thoracic trauma. It is a safe and effective treatment method, which is worth clinical application.