2019 Volume 33 Issue 2 Pages 183-186
A 55-year-old man underwent thoracoscopic right upper lobectomy with mediastinal lymph node dissection (ND2a-1) for primary lung cancer. He was subsequently discharged from our hospital, but on postoperative day 10 he was taken to a local hospital by ambulance because of epigastric pain and dyspnea. He was diagnosed with cardiac tamponade and emergent pericardial drainage was performed. The amount of the drainage fluid did not decrease, so he was transferred to our hospital for further examination and treatment. As a result, he was diagnosed with pericardial effusion due to lymphatic leakage. Since conservative treatments were not successful, thoracoscopic pericardial fenestration was performed. After the operation, the pericardial effusion was absent on echocardiography. Cardiac tamponade after lung cancer surgery is extremely rare as one of the life-threatening complications; therefore, we have to keep this complication in mind after lung cancer operations.
