Journal of thoracic disease
-
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the most common form of idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIPs) of unknown etiology that often affects male, elderly smokers. However, it is sometimes observed in never smokers. This study aimed to clarify the clinical characteristics of IPF in never-smoking patients compared with those in smoking patients. ⋯ In conclusion, never-smoking IPF patients developed AE more often and showed poor prognosis compared with smoking IPF patients. The 1-year mMRC breathlessness scale was an important predictor of mortality at our hospital.
-
There are few reports of single-port video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (S-VATS) anatomic segmentectomy and S-VATS lobectomy for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and no comparisons between them have yet been reported. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the safety and efficacy of S-VATS anatomic segmentectomy and S-VATS lobectomy for early-stage NSCLC. ⋯ S-VATS segmentectomy is as safe and effective as S-VATS lobectomy. Patients who undergo S-VATS segmentectomy seem to recover faster.
-
The establishment of a golden standard for post-operative analgesia after thoracic surgery remains an unresolved issue. Benefiting from the rapid development of single port video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), a good candidate for the alleviation of patients' pain is the placement of an intercostal catheter (ICC) safely after uniport VATS. We hypothesized that continual infusion through ICC could provide effective analgesia for patients with only one wound and we evaluate its postoperative analgesic function in uniport VATS patients with or without intercostal nerve blockade. ⋯ In conclusion, in patients post single port VATS, continual intercostal nerve block with levobupivacaine infusion appears to be a safe, effective and promising technique in our study, associated with a shorter hospital stay and less post-operative pain. Further prospective trials are needed to determine the long term outcomes.