Medium-Term Pulmonary Function Test After Thoracoscopic Lobectomy and Segmentectomy for Congenital Lung Malformation: A Comparative Study With Normal Control

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to compare the outcomes and pulmonary function test (PFT) of thoracoscopic segmentectomy and lobectomy in infants with congenital lung malformation and study the result of PFT on a medium-term basis.Methods: The clinical data of 19 infants with congenital lung malformation who underwent thoracoscopic surgery in our hospital from January 2018 to March 2019 were retrospectively studied; these infants were paired with another 19 infants who underwent thoracoscopic lobectomy during the same period using propensity score matching. Age-matched healthy individuals with similar body sizes were recruited for PFT as the control group. Patient characteristics, postoperative PFT, and outcomes were extracted for statistical analysis.Results: The average length of hospital stay did not significantly differ between segmentectomy and lobectomy groups. The segmentectomy group had more chest tube drainage than the lobectomy group. PFT 1 month after the operation showed that the tidal volume of the lobectomy group was lower than that of the segmentectomy group. Time to peak expiratory flow/time of expiration and peak flow/terminal airway velocity (V25%) indicated small airway dysfunction in the lobectomy group, and no obvious abnormalities were found in “time of inspiratory/time of expiration” in either group. Reexamination of pulmonary function 2 years after the operation showed that the small airway function of the segmentectomy group returned to normal, and no significant difference in pulmonary function was noted among the three groups.Conclusion: The short-term pulmonary function recovery was better after segmentectomy than after lobectomy. Patients who underwent thoracoscopic lobectomy and segmentectomy have normal lung function 2 years after the operation.