Use of uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery combined with a posterior approach to resect a dumbbell-shaped mediastinal granular cell tumor: A case report

Introduction: A dumbbell-shaped mediastinal granular cell tumor has never been reported, and there have been no reports of dumbbell-shaped tumors resected with a combination of uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery and the posterior approach. Presentation of case: An 18-year-old woman was diagnosed with a mediastinal dumbbell-shaped granular cell tumor by computed tomography. Complete resection was achieved via a posterior approach combined with the uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery. First, a T3 left hemilaminectomy was performed in the prone position and the tumor located inside the intervertebral foramen was removed as far as possible. Next, the patient was repositioned to the right lateral decubitus position, a 2.5-cm skin incision was made on the 4th intercostal posterior axillary line, and resection of the residual tumor was performed. Pathological diagnosis of the resected tumor revealed a benign granular cell tumor. The patient recovered post-surgery and no tumor was reported in the 4-month follow-up magnetic resonance imaging. Discussion: This is the first reported case of a mediastinal dumbbell-shaped granular cell tumor and its successful resection using a combined posterior and uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery approach. Conclusion: This is a potentially safe and effective procedure for mediastinal granular cell tumors, with outstanding cosmetic advantages.