Preliminary evaluation and discussion of the safety of left innominate vein resection

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the safety of resection of anterior mediastinal lesions involving the left innominate vein (LIV) and analyze the risk factors affecting LIV resection safety. METHODS: Patients who underwent anterior mediastinal lesion and LIV resection from January 2010 to December 2018 in the Department of Thoracic Surgery of Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Medical University, were followed up, and preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative factors were analyzed. RESULTS: Forty-eight patients who underwent anterior mediastinal lesion and LIV resection from January 2010 to December 2018, except for 2 who died of lung infection-induced respiratory failure, were followed up, with an average follow-up time of 32 months (range, 6–72 months). Postoperative: in 31 cases (67.39%), patients did not manifest LIV resection-associated complications; in 15 cases (32.61%), patients manifested mild LIV resection-associated complications; no patient manifested severe LIV resection-associated complications. The average operation time, average blood loss and average hospitalization time were 155.17 min, 324.13 mL and 11.83 days, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that the degree of LIV invasion and surgical approach were risk factors for predicting LIV resection safety. CONCLUSIONS: For anterior mediastinal lesions involving the LIV, LIV resection is a simple, safe and effective surgical procedure.