Video-assisted thoracic surgery compared with posterolateral thoracotomy for mediastinal bronchogenic cysts in adult patients

Background: Mediastinal bronchogenic cyst (MBC) is the most common primary cystic lesion of the mediastinum. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) compared with posterolateral thoracotomy (PLT) for the treatment of MBCs in a large series. Methods: Patients with MBCs who underwent surgical resection between August 2005 and December 2015 were identified from the electronic database of the Department of Thoracic Surgery, West China Hospital. The patient demographic characteristics, intraoperative findings, postoperative outcomes and follow-up information were reviewed and analyzed. Results: A total of 99 patients underwent cystectomy were enrolled for the present study. Of those patients, 65 underwent VATS cystectomy (VATS group) and 34 underwent PLT cystectomy (PLT group) during the same period. The VATS group had shorter operative time than the PLT group (108.77 +/- 47.81 vs. 144.62 +/- 55.16, P=0.001), less intraoperative blood loss (median 20 vs. 100 mL, P<0.001), and less pleural drainage of the first three days after surgery (median 240 vs. 400 mL, P=0.002). In addition, the length of postoperative hospital stay and duration of chest drainage for the VATS group was also shorter than those of the PLT group (4.94 +/- 2.01 vs. 8.64 +/- 5.52 days, P=0.001; 2.52 +/- 1.29 vs. 3.71 +/- 1.55 days, P<0.001, respectively). No statistical significance was revealed among the two groups with regard to the maximum diameter of the cysts, pleural atresia, incomplete resection, surgery-related complications, duration of intensive care unit stay, and postoperative complications. Conclusions: Both VATS and PLT are reliable approaches for the surgical resection of MBCs. The VATS approach is superior to PLT with shorter operative time, shorter duration of chest drainage, shorter postoperative hospital stay, less intraoperative blood loss, and less pleural drainage of the first three days after surgery. We conclude that VATS should be the preferred approach for the treatment of MBCs.