A 60 year old male had an open thoracotomy for bronchogenic carcinoma. On the twelfth hospital day he became obtunded and complained of headache. Radiographs revealed intracranial air. It was thought that the pneumocephalus in this patient was most likely secondary to a tension pneumothorax continuously forcing air through a dural tear sustained at the time of initial surgery. The causes of pne...

Esophageal leiomyomas are the most common benign mesenchymal esophageal tumors, but they occur rarely in the pediatric population. Leiomyomas are conventionally treated with extramucosal enucleation via an open thoracotomy. In this paper, we report a case of a complex massive retrocardiac esophageal leiomyoma that was successfully extirpated by using a robotic-assisted thoracoscopic technique. ...

Minimal invasive surgery is an excellent approach for the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of thoracic disorders that previously required sternotomy or open thoracotomy. The notable benefits of minimal invasive surgery to patients include less postoperative pain, fewer operative and post-operative major complications, shortened hospital stay, faster recovery times, less scarring, less st...

Trauma-related thoracic compartment syndrome (TCS) is a rare, life threatening condition that develops secondary to elevated intra-thoracic pressure and manifests itself clinically as significantly elevated airway pressures, inability to provide adequate ventilation and hemodynamic instability temporally related to closure of a thoracic surgical incision. TCS is exceedingly rare in the trauma p...

INTRODUCTION The indications for videothoracoscopy are very broad and include the treatment of mediastinal tumours. AIM To present our experience of using the minimally invasive technique in treating benign neurogenic tumours. MATERIAL AND METHODS Twenty-two patients were treated due to tumours of the posterior mediastinum from 2003 to 2012. The size of the tumours ranged from 2 cm to 25 cm...

BACKGROUND Oesophageal leiomyomas are usually so easily removed that thoracotomy seems out of proportion and thoracoscopic removal is therefore highly desirable. METHODS Out of a total of 1003 thoracoscopic operations undertaken between July 1991 and December 1996, seven patients underwent thoracoscopic removal of oesophageal leiomyoma. All of them had been preoperatively studied by oesophago...

OBJECTIVES Lobectomies done by video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) result in fewer complications and less pain and save total costs compared with the traditional approach. However, the majority of procedures are still performed via open thoracotomies, because VATS lobectomy is considered difficult to learn, requiring experience in open surgery, and causing complications in the initial phase ...

Here we demonstrate our surgical procedure of minimally invasive aortic valve replacement through right anterolateral mini-thoracotomy. Preoperative evaluation of the whole aorta by contrast-enhanced computed tomography scan is important to prevent cerebrovascular complications. The patient is set in a mild left lateral decubitus position. A skin incision is made along the anterior axillary lin...

OBJECTIVES The benefits of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for performing pulmonary metastasectomy are considered controversial. This case-matched study aimed to compare long-term outcomes after surgical resection of pulmonary metastases from colorectal cancer using different approaches (VATS vs. thoracotomy). METHODS Between 1997 and 2008, 143 patients with colorectal cancer who ...