New technique of diaphragmatic plication by means of uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery

Diaphragmatic plication has been a well employed method for the treatment of diaphragmatic eventration and/or paralysis. Uniportal thoracoscopic procedures seem to offer substantial benefit in terms of postoperative pain and cosmesis with similar outcomes as other surgical techniques. A 60-year-old female patient was referred to our clinic for the surgical treatment of diaphragmatic eventration of an unknown cause. The patient was referred to our institution from another hospital, where she had undergone a femoro-popliteal and crural bypass which was unsuccessful, requiring amputation of her leg. Following surgery, she was unable to breath spontaneously without any specific reason. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging showed no pathology and the neurologists did not have a diagnosis for her comatose state. There was consensus in both hospitals that surgical plication of her elevated diaphragm might be the only option for respiratory improvement. We performed a double-lined diaphragmatic plication procedure by means of uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery technique with CO2 insufflation using GelPort. Despite the time-consuming adhesiolysis and the need for lung suturing at the end of the procedure, the operative time was 120 min. Oxygenation remarkably improved after the operation, yet the patient remained in comatose state. She was referred back to the hospital where she had initially begun her therapy for further recovery.