Primary spontaneous pneumothorax in pediatric patients: our 7-year experience

Abstract

Background: Primary spontaneous pneumothorax in children is a significant clinical problem. The majority of these patients will require immediate surgical therapy, such as tube thoracostomy.

Patients and methods: We conducted a retrospective review of 16 patients with a diagnosis of primary spontaneous pneumothorax over a period of 7 years.

Results: In the last 7 years, we had 16 patients with spontaneous pneumothorax. Patient age ranged from 11 to 18 years (median, 15.4). We had 12 boys and 4 girls. Pneumothorax occurred on the right side in 9 patients, on the left side in 6 patients, and on both sides in 1 patient. The first choice of treatment was tube thoracostomy. The main symptoms were chest pain, shortness of breath, and cough. In all patients, we made X-ray and computed tomography scan. In 10 children, we detected apical bullas; in 2 patients, we found giant bullas in the lower part of the lung. In 4 patients, we did not find any pathologic signs on the lung. Two patients with spontaneous pneumothorax had tube drainage without recurrence. Eleven patients were operated on with video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). Three patients were operated with open thoracotomy. Two of them had giant bullas, and 1 patient had recurrence after VATS. One patient had pneumothorax on both sides of the pleural cavity.

Discussion: VATS is an effective, safe method for spontaneous pneumothorax in children. In 11 children with pneumothorax, we made a wedge resection of the apical part of the lung with an endostapler device plus mechanical pleurodesis.