Preventive Effect of Recurrence after Spontaneous Pneumothorax Surgery in Young Patients Using Oxidized Cellulose Sheets

Abstract

Recently, oxidized regenerated cellulose (ORC) or polyglycolic acid (PGA) sheets have been used for the prevention of postoperative recurrence of spontaneous pneumothorax by covering the resection margin. ORC sheets which are unlikely to cause adhesions have actively been used for young patients in our center. We report the efficacy of ORC sheets in preventing postoperative recurrence of lung cysts in young patients. We retrospectively evaluated the postoperative recurrence rate in 216 patients who underwent first surgery with ORC coverage alone for spontaneous pneumothorax at our center during the past 12 years from 2011 to 2022, out of 263 patients aged 25 years or younger who underwent first surgery for spontaneous pneumothorax. Of those 216 patients, 40 (18.5%) had postoperative recurrence. The postoperative recurrence rate by age group was 30/123 (24.4%) for patients in their teens and 10/93 (10.8%) for patients in their twenties. The use of the ORC sheet for edge coverage is difficult to recommend because of a certain rate of postoperative recurrence, and its use for prevention of pneumothorax recurrence should be reviewed in accordance with the stricter off-label use.