Morbidity and survival after bronchoplastic surgery for non-small-cell lung cancer

Background Bronchoplastic procedures are an accepted surgical approach in patients with resectable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to avoid pneumonectomy, Postoperative complications associated with the bronchial anastomosis and local recurrence of the tumor have to be considered. Experimental design and setting: Retrospective analysis of the clinical courses and follow-up of 1610 consecutive patients who received surgical resection for NSCLC at the Department of Surgery, Klinikum Grosshadern, University of Munich, Germany. Among them there were 134 (8.3%) bronchoplastic resections. Methods. Morbidity, mortality, and survival rate were investigated in these patients to verify the safety of this technique. Results. From all 134 bronchoplastic resections, 105 lobectomies, 22 bilobectomies, and 7 pneumonectomies were performed, Atelectasis was observed in 6.0% (versus conventional procedures: 3.7%; p: n.s.), whereas anastomotic dehiscence occurred in 3.0%, in-hospital mortality amounted to 3.7% (versus 5.3%; p: n.s.). The stage dependent 5-year survival in R0-resected patients was comparable in both groups. Conclusions. Our results demonstrate that bronchoplastic procedures represent a safe therapeutic option in the operative treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer that should be considered in all patients with central tumor growth.