Simultaneous Uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery of bilateral pulmonary nodules

BACKGROUND: Surgical resection is an appropriate treatment option for synchronous bilateral pulmonary nodules with ground-glass opacities. The applicability of simultaneous uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery is not fully understood. We evaluated the feasibility and safety of performing such surgeries at our hospital. METHODS: Clinical data of 35 patients who underwent simultaneous bilateral pulmonary resection with uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery at our hospital were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: Simultaneous bilateral pulmonary resection with uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery was performed for 35 patients (15 men, 20 women); 97 nodules were operated on, and the average nodule diameter was 11.4 mm (range, 1–38 mm). Computerized tomography showed that most nodules had ground-glass opacity (52/97, 53.6%); solid nodules (24/97, 24.7%) and nodules with mixed ground-glass opacity (21/97, 21.7%) were noted. Surgical resection included lobar-sublobar resection (11/35, 31.4%) and sublobar-sublobar resection (24/35, 68.6%). Wound infection and postoperative 30-day mortality were not observed. Pneumonia was the major postoperative complication, with a higher incidence in the lobar-sublobar group (6/10, 60%) than in the sublobar-sublobar group (4/25, 16%; P = 0.016). Pneumonia did not correlate with operative time (mean, 262.3 ± 108.1 vs. 261.9 ± 87.5 min, P = 0.991), duration of chest drainage (mean, 7.0 ± 4.0 vs 5.4 ± 2.1 days, P = 0.124), and postoperative hospital stay (mean, 10.2 ± 3.6 vs 10.2 ± 6.4 days, P = 0.978). The mean follow-up time was 8 (range, 3–22) months. Recurrence of primary lung cancer or mortality was not noted at the final follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Simultaneous bilateral pulmonary resection with uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery is feasible and safe for appropriate patients. Simultaneous lobar-sublobar pulmonary resection for bilateral nodules can increase the risk of developing pneumonia.