Surgical intervention for congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM) patients with preoperative pneumonia and abscess formation: "open versus thoracoscopic lobectomy".

<bold>Aim: </bold>Thoracoscopic lobectomy (TL) and open lobectomy (OL) were compared for treating congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM) with preoperative complications, specifically pneumonia/abscess formation (PA).<bold>Methods: </bold>The medical records of 46 CPAM patients treated by lobectomy at our institution from 1990 to 2014 were reviewed retrospectively. Four groups, TL for patients without PA (n = 17; TL-), TL for patients with PA (n = 8; TL+), OL for patients without PA (n = 16; OL-), and OL for patients with PA (n = 5; OL+) were compared for operative time, intra/postoperative complications, blood loss, duration of chest tube insertion, postoperative analgesia, pre: postoperative white blood cell (WBC) ratio, and duration of hospitalization.<bold>Results: </bold>Operative time for TL+ was longest, but not statistically significant. Incidences of intra/postoperative complications were similar in all groups. Blood loss was significantly less for TL+ versus OL+ (p < .05). WBC ratio was significantly lower in TL+ versus OL+ (p < .05), similar for TL+ and TL-, and significantly higher in OL+ versus OL- (p < .01). Chest tube insertion was significantly longer in OL- versus TL- (p < .01).<bold>Conclusion: </bold>PA would not appear to be a contraindication to perform TL in CPAM. TL is associated with less surgical stress than OL despite longer operative time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]