A case of successful thoracoscopic surgery to remove an intrapulmonary needle causing pneumothorax

Abstract

A 67-year-old woman had fallen on a needle which penetrated her chest wall. It caused pain. She left the needle in place because no pain. Pneumothorax developed suddenly three years later. Chest x-rays revealed the needle piercing both the lung and the chest wall. With the video-assisted thoracoscopy, we succeeded in removing the intrapulmonary needle and curing the pneumothorax. We think that thoracoscopic surgery is better than conventional surgery because of its minimal invasiveness and pain.