Abstract
The usefulness of Tissue-LinkTM (TL) for 419 operative cases of primary spontaneous pneumothorax between November 1999 and July 2013 was examined. The study population consisted of 369 males and 50 females, with an age of 32.7±17.6 years (mean±SD), height of 169.4±7.5 (cm), body weight of 55.7±8.1 (kg), BMI of 19.4±2.3, and smoking index of 180.9±345.6 (pack・years). Operation was performed on the right side in 211 cases and left side in 208 cases, and involved thoracoscopic surgery in 393 cases and thoracotomy in 26 cases, with the TL ablation group (TL+group) containing 251 cases and non-TL ablation group (TL- group) containing 168 cases. The mean operation time, exicision number, and exicision volume (conic approximation) were 69.2±33.6 (min), 1.21±0.49 (units), and 22.2±47.0 (cm3), respectively. In the lung bullae group of more than 3 cm in diameter, there was no significant difference in sex, age, BMI, or smoking index, while the surgical time, exicision number, and exicision volume of the TL+group were lower than those of the TL- group, with a significant difference.
