1994 Volume 8 Issue 6 Pages 686-691
From 1972 to March 1993, pulmonary resections were perfomed for 63 pulmonary metastatic tumors, 15 lobectomies and 56 partial resections of the lung. In the partial resections, we used the stapler method in 27 and the Nd : YAG laser method in 29 cases. The rate of postoperative local recurrences in the lung was 51.8 % (14/27) in the stapler group and 3.4 % (1/29) in the Nd : YAG laser group.
The difference is statistically significant (p <0.001). There was no significant difference in the clinical characteristics (age, sex, number of pulmonary metastases, maximun diameter of metastatic pulmonary tumor) or the postoperative survival between the two groups. From the standpoint of local curability, partial resection with Nd : YAG laser is a usefull operative method for pulmonary metastatic tumors.
