Bronchial stump reinforcement has been shown to significantly reduce the incidence of bronchopleural fistulas. Various coverage techniques have been described in the literature. While the azygous vein flap is an easy, safe and effective reinforcement option for right-sided bronchial stumps, the flap is not widely adopted, with little mention in the literature, partly due to surgeons' uneasiness...

Objective: There are many risk factors for postoperative bronchopleural fistula (BPF), including extensive resection, diabetes, chronic infection, perioperative steroid therapy, preoperative chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, the risk of bronchopleural fistula increases with resection for inflammatory diseases, especially Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). The aim of this study is to evaluate the e...

OBJECTIVE In a previous experimental study on 60 freshly slaughtered pig trachea, a statistically significant better resistance to pressure was found after mechanical stapling compared to hand suture. The objective of this study was to determine the resistance to pressure of a bronchial stump depending upon the closure technique (manual vs. mechanical) used in sheep 14 days after pneumonectomy....

An 80-year-old man underwent middle and lower lobectomy of the right lung to treat squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (4 cm in diameter) originating from the right B4 bronchus. On the 4th postoperative day, a massive air leak from the thoracic drain was noted. At that time, a diagnosis of bronchial stump fistula was made on the basis of the bronchoscopic findings. Continuous thoracic drainage, aspir...

We read with interest the paper by Abolhoda et al. about a harvest technique for pedicled transposition of latissimus dorsi muscle, and congratulate the authors [1]. We are used to transpose intrathoracically the whole latissimus dorsi muscle to obliterate an infected apical or mid-thoracic dead space and we use the same technique as described by the authors but we have modified the harvest tec...

OBJECTIVE For patients with postoperative pleural empyema, open window thoracostomy (OWT) is often necessary to prevent sepsis. Vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) is a well-known therapeutic option in wound treatment. The efficacy and safety of intrathoracal VAC therapy, especially in patients with pleural empyema with bronchial stump insufficiency or remain lung, has not yet been investigated. ME...