OBJECTIVE: To evaluate bullectomy and pleurectomy in the treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax ( @entity25845 ) using video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), and to compare the outcome with that of the same procedure performed using @entity9053 ( @entity9053 ). DESIGN: A retrospective case series with @entity1 follow-up. SETTING: A Canadian tertiary care hospital. @entity1 : The medical records of all @entity1 with a spontaneous @entity25845 treated by either VATS or @entity9053 at the Ottawa Hospital - General Campus, Ottawa, Ontario, between April 1993 and August 1999 were reviewed, and the @entity1 were subsequently interviewed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Operative details (length of operation, operative complications); postoperative details (duration of chest tube, length of hospital stay, duration of @entity1337 , @entity158 , time missed from work, complications, recurrence rate); and cost (hospital and operative, socioeconomic [time missed from work]). RESULTS: Fifty @entity1 were identified who had had surgical treatment of a spontaneous @entity25845 . Twenty-eight @entity1 were treated by @entity9053 and 22 underwent VATS. The median length of follow-up was 44.6 months (range four to 81.5 months). Three @entity1 developed a recurrent @entity25845 - two @entity1 after @entity9053 and one @entity1 after VATS. No difference was found between the two groups in the operating time or in the amount of @entity158 experienced immediately after surgery. However, @entity1 who underwent VATS had a shorter length of stay (P=0.002) and a shorter requirement for analgesics postoperatively (P=0.03). Overall, the total cost of VATS was no different than that for @entity9053 ; however, in terms of socioeconomic costs, @entity1 in the VATS group missed significantly less time from work postoperatively (P=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: VATS offers a cost effective and better tolerated procedure for the management of spontaneous @entity25845 than the time-honoured open technique.

Is video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery superior to XXXX in the management of spontaneous pneumothorax?

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients', 'patient', 'PATIENTS'] @entity9053 :: ('MESH:D045745', 'Disease') :: ['LAT', 'limited axillary thoracotomy'] @entity1337 :: ('MESH:D000699', 'Disease') :: ['analgesia'] @entity158 :: ('MESH:D010146', 'Disease') :: ['pain'] @entity25845 :: ('CHEBI:58982', 'Chemical') :: ['PNO']
@entity9053 :: (MESH:D045745,Disease) :: ['limited axillary thoracotomy']
