• Ann. Thorac. Surg. · Apr 2013

    Comparative Study

    Endoscopic one-way valve implantation in patients with prolonged air leak and the use of digital air leak monitoring.

    • Irene Firlinger, Elisabeth Stubenberger, Michael Rolf Müller, Otto C Burghuber, and Arschang Valipour.
    • Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Ludwig-Boltzmann-Institute for COPD and Respiratory Epidemiology, Otto Wagner Hospital, Vienna, Austria.
    • Ann. Thorac. Surg. 2013 Apr 1;95(4):1243-9.

    BackgroundProlonged alveolar-pleural air leaks are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Endoscopic valve therapy has been recently introduced as a potential less invasive treatment option. We aimed at quantifying the effects of valve therapy on air leak flow and clinical outcomes in patients with prolonged air leaks.MethodsWe report on a series of 16 patients with high comorbidity and evidence of continuous air leak flow in whom chest tubes remained in place for at least 7 days. After identification of the source of the air leak by use of the balloon occlusion technique, endobronchial one-way valves were implanted. Digital chest tube monitoring was used to assess air leak flow before, during, and after valve implantation until chest tube removal.ResultsThe source of the air leak was endoscopically identified in 13 patients (81%). After valve implantation, air leak flow decreased significantly from 871±551 mL/min to 61±72 mL/min immediately after the intervention (p<0.001). The mean duration of chest tube drainage was 18±8 days before and 9±6 days after the intervention (p<0.01). Ten patients were considered responders, and 3 patients were nonresponders. Responders demonstrated consistent air leak flow levels below 100 mL/min until chest tube removal. Long-term follow-up was available for 9 patients. No adverse events related to the valve implants were reported at follow-up. Seven patients underwent valve removal without any further complications.ConclusionsEndoscopic implantation of one-way valves leads to a significant reduction in air leakage flow and may thus be a valuable treatment option in patients with prolonged air leakage.Copyright © 2013 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…