2015 Volume 37 Issue 2 Pages 159-162
Background. Spontaneous hemopneumothorax is a relatively rare disease. We examined clinical characteristics of spontaneous hemopneumothorax cases. Subjects. We treated 91 cases of pneumothorax operations between November 2008 and October 2013. Of these, 5 cases had spontaneous hemopneumothorax, approximately 5.5%. Results. All patients were male, ranging in age from 18 to 74 years, and initially complained of chest pain. It was the first occurrence of pneumothorax for all patients. Three cases underwent emergency surgery when we diagnosed of hemopneumothorax on the day after admission. From admission to the start of the operation, the amount of blood loss ranged from 410 to 2100 ml (mean 1098 ml). No case had blood transfusion due to hemorrhagic shock. Four cases apart from one adhesion case were treated using video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS). An interrupted end of the funicular structure from the top of the thoracic cavity was suspected as a site of bleeding, and we stopped the bleeding. Duration of drainage after surgery ranged from 2 to 4 days (mean 2.8 days), and postoperative stay ranged from 3 to 7 days (mean 4.2 days). Conclusions. We suggest that early VATS for spontaneous hemopneumothorax is a minimally invasive, safe, and useful treatment and that VATS may be the first choice for treatment.
