Comparison of spontaneous hemopneumothorax and primary spontaneous pneumothorax

Abstract

We performed video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for five patients with spontaneous hemopneumothorax (SHP) in our hospital. In many reports, this disease is noted as hemothorax which requires an emergency operation. We compared five cases of SHP with eighty-five cases of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP). SHP and PSP patients were enrolled in this study from 2009. In four cases of SHP, the aberrant vessel was identified near the bulla. On comparing the two groups, the backgrounds were similar. However, the operative results for SHP and PSP groups were as follows: operation time (94.2±24.0 vs. 73.1±30.5 min, NS), blood loss (896.0±466.3 vs. 5.7±11.2 ml, P<0.05), duration of postoperative drainage (2.0±1.7 vs. 1.5±1.7 days, NS), and postoperative hospital stay (6.2±2.9 vs. 4.0±2.6 days, P<0.05), respectively. The postoperative course was uneventful in all cases. Although the recurrence rate of pneumothorax in both groups was not significant based on the Kaplan-Meier method, SHP patients had a lower recurrence rate than PSP patients (0 vs. 12.1%, respectively). In conclusion, we suggest that SHP is associated with a lower recurrence rate of pneumothorax than PSP.