Abstract
Although an axillary thoracotomy of more than 10 cm has been regarded as the standard approach for spontaneous pneumothorax, such an incision is too large to treat only several small bullae in the apex of the lung. We have developed a new technique to resect bullae through a 3-cm minithoracotomy. 37 patients have been treated by this procedure without recurrence. This technique has the advantage that patients can escape unnecessarily grave operative injury with a cosmetically acceptable wound.
The development of perioperative support, such as unilateral ventilation and a fiberoptic headlight have made our procedure practical.
