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J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1996;112:1367-1371
© 1996 Mosby, Inc.
GENERAL THORACIC SURGERY |
From the General Thoracic Surgical Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass.
Received for publication May 6, 1996 Revisions requested May 24, 1996; revisions received June 5, 1996 Accepted for publication June 7, 1996. Address for reprints: Cameron D. Wright, MD, Thoracic Surgery, Warren 1212, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114.
Abstract
Objective: Postpneumonectomy bronchopleural fistula remains a morbid complication after pneumonectomy. The incidence, risk factors, and management of postpneumonectomy bronchopleural fistula were evaluated in 256 consecutive patients who underwent pneumonectomy with a standardized suture closure of the bronchus.
Methods: Pneumonectomy was performed for lung cancer in 198 cases, for other malignancy in 20 cases, and for benign causes in 38 cases. The bronchial stump was closed with interrupted simple sutures to emphasize a long, membranous wall flap. All stumps were covered by autologous tissue.
Results: The incidence of postpneumonectomy bronchopleural fistula was 3.1%. Risk factors for bronchopleural fistula were the need for postoperative ventilation (p = 0.0001) and right pneumonectomy (p = 0.04). Five patients had bronchopleural fistulas as a result of pulmonary complications necessitating ventilation; the cause in the remaining three cases appeared to be technical. Reclosure was successful in five cases (mean postoperative day 12); in one case a pinhole fistula was healed by drainage alone. Two (25%) of the eight patients who had bronchopleural fistulas died.
Conclusions: Careful, sutured closure of the main bronchus with a tissue buttress after pneumonectomy yields excellent results. The most significant risk factor for bronchopleural fistula is a pulmonary complication necessitating ventilation. Contrary to previous reports, reclosure is usually successful even if performed late. (J THORACCARDIOVASCSURG1996;112:1367-71)
Bronchopleural fistula (BPF) remains a rare but dreaded complication after pneumonectomy. Although its incidence has decreased in recent years, postpneumonectomy BPF remains a major problem. Early postpneumonectomy BPF frequently leads to death.
1 Prevention is paramount and centers around careful closure of the main bronchus with appropriate tissue buttressing. Controversy continues regarding the merits of sutured versus stapled closure of the bronchus, with many advocating the superiority of stapling. 2,3 We have continued to follow the principles that Sweet 4 emphasized 50 years ago for sutured bronchial closure. In this retrospective review, we analyze the incidence, risk factors, and current management of postpneumonectomy BPF after sutured bronchial closure.
Patients and methods
From 1980 to 1995, 256 consecutive patients underwent pneumonectomy at the Massachusetts General Hospital. The records of these patient were reviewed and entered into a database. The indications for pneumonectomy were lung cancer, 198; other malignancy, 20; and benign causes (primarily infection with destroyed lung), 38. One hundred three patients underwent right pneumonectomy and 153 patients underwent left pneumonectomy. A standardized sutured closure of the bronchus was performed, and the stump was covered with autologous tissue. Possible risk factors for BPF in these patients included preoperative radiotherapy, 30; preoperative pleuropulmonary infection, 37; completion pneumonectomy, 35; and the necessity for postoperative ventilation, 31.
Surgical technique
The principles that Sweet 4 emphasized 50 years ago are still followed: (1) Minimize trauma to the end of the bronchus. (2) Preserve blood supply all the way to the cut end of the bronchus. (3) Carefully approximate the cut edges of the bronchus. (4) Provide adequate tissue reinforcement of the bronchial closure. No clamps are used on the proximal bronchus. The transection of the bronchus is kept close to the carina. The only significant change from Sweet's original description 4 has been cutting the bronchus to leave the posterior membranous wall longer, so that it can be used as a flap to reduce tension on the closure, as originally described by Brewer and colleagues 5 (Fig. 1). This modification was performed whenever the pathologic state allowed it. When tumor was present close to the carina, simple straight transection of the membranous wall was performed. Negative margins were ensured by frozen-section analysis. Interrupted simple 4-0 Vicryl sutures (Ethicon, Inc., Somerville, N.J.) spaced about 2 mm apart are used to approximate the membranous wall to the cartilaginous wall. The stump is checked for air leakage with 30 to 40 cm H2O sustained airway pressure. The bronchus is carefully covered by either pleura (n = 119), pericardial fat pad (n = 92), intercostal muscle flap (n = 33), other muscle flap (n = 3), or omentum (n = 9). Pleura was used most often early in the series but is rarely used now because of its tenuous perceived strength compared with fat pad or muscle. Our current preference in a standard case is to use the pericardial fat pad because of ease of mobilization and coverage capabilities. If intercostal muscle was used (in higher risk cases such as pleuropneumonectomy or preoperative low-dose [40 Gy] radiation), the pedicle was harvested before insertion of the rib spreader to avoid damage to the vascular pedicle. Omentum was used if high-dose radiation was given before operation. Almost all operations were performed by the resident staff under the close supervision of the attending surgeon.
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2 test was used for comparison of discrete variables. The level of significance was chosen at a p value lower than 0.05. Results
Eleven patients died after pneumonectomy, for a mortality rate of 4.3%. BPFs developed in eight patients, for an overall BPF rate of 3.1%. Right pneumonectomy resulted in BPF in 5.8% of the patients (6/104), whereas left pneumonectomy resulted in fistulas in 1.3% of the patients (2/152). The need for postoperative ventilation (p = 0.0001) and right pneumonectomy (p = 0.04) were significantly associated with postoperative BPF (Table I). The association of preoperative pleuropulmonary infection with BPF came close (p = 0.06) to statistical significance (Table I).
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Table II. Five of these patients (patients 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7) had postoperative respiratory failure (pneumonia, 4; pulmonary edema, 1) leading to mechanical ventilation of a stiff, noncompliant lung. Undoubtedly, barotrauma was a significant factor in causing these BPFs. The cause of BPF in the other three cases (patients 3, 6, and 8) seemed likely to be in part technical in nature; difficulties were encountered with bronchial closure during operation. All three of these patients required extra sutures to close an air leak discovered when the closed stump was first tested.
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(Table II). One patient (patient 1) had a pinhole fistula, which healed promptly with rib resection and drainage alone, probably aided by the covering omental flap. Five patients (patients 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8) were returned to the operating room for reclosure the same day that the BPF was diagnosed (mean day 12). These five patients had stable or improving lung function and could therefore tolerate reclosure. The pneumonectomy space fluid was never grossly purulent in these patients. The stump was debrided back to healthy tissue and reclosed with 4-0 Vicryl sutures. Extra attention was paid to minimizing tension on the closure by resecting more of the anterior cartilaginous portion of the bronchus to allow the posterior membranous wall to act as a flap. The stump was again covered, usually with intercostal muscle or a pericardial fat pad. Pleura was avoided in this high-risk situation because of its tenuous strength and blood supply. The chest cavity was then extensively irrigated and closed. Antibiotics were administered and adjusted according to culture reports. No postoperative empyemas occurred. Two patients (patients 2 and 6) had severe adult respiratory distress syndrome and therefore had only chest tube drainage. Both of these patients died, for a mortality rate from postpneumonectomy BPF of 25%. BPF accounted for two (18%) of the 11 deaths after pneumonectomy in this series. Discussion
The incidence of postpneumonectomy BPF was quite low (3.1%) in this series of procedures performed with a uniform sutured technique. Unlike in previous reports, completion pneumonectomy and preoperative radiation were not found to be risk factors for BPF. 1,2,6 The most likely explanation for these findings, in addition to the particular method of closure, is the aggressive use of intercostal muscle flaps or omentum in management of the difficult stump. Omentum was uniformly used when the preoperative dose of radiation exceeded 50 Gy. We have reported elsewhere the value of these flaps to buttress at risk airway anastomoses. 7 Severe preoperative pleuropulmonectomy infection has been reported to be more frequently associated with BPFs, an association that almost reached significance (p = 0.06) in our series. 8 Again, we believe these stumps should be treated as though they present a high risk with more coverage than pleura alone. As has been reported elsewhere, right pneumonectomy is associated (p = 0.04) with a higher incidence of BPF (5.8%) than is left pneumonectomy (1.3%). 1,2,9 This is probably because of the larger size and greater tendency to spring open of the right main bronchus, as well as the lack of mediastinal coverage compared with the left side.
The need for postoperative ventilation for pneumonia or pulmonary edema was highly correlated with the development of BPF (p = 0.0001), a correlation not previously reported. The prolonged trauma of high airway pressures in these patients led to a BPF rate of 19.3%. The causal relationship is intuitively apparent and probably correct. Certainly, if one anticipates the need for postoperative ventilation in a patient who has undergone pneumonectomy, special attention should be paid to the airway closure and to buttressing.
Previous reports and textbooks have emphasized that postpneumonectomy BPFs that occur more than a few days after operation should be treated with drainage alone, rather than with immediate reclosure. 10,11 We have not adhered to this dogma and have instead treated each case according to the clinical condition of the patient. Drainage alone is appropriate for the patient with severe respiratory failure or established empyema with pus. In the early postoperative period (<1 month), if diagnosis is prompt with minimal pleural space contamination and adequate pulmonary reserve, reclosure should be performed regardless of time elapsed since pneumonectomy. Our results with this approach were excellent (100% success, no empyema), confirming the value of our approach. Our overall mortality rate for postpneumonectomy BPF was low (25%) and compares favorably to other reports (from 29% to 71%). 1,12 Nonetheless, this morbid complication resulted in 27% of all the deaths that occurred after pneumonectomy in this series. Prevention is obviously the best treatment.
Surgeons have long been interested in refining the technical factors of bronchial stump closure to reduce the incidence of BPF. BPFs should not (and, in our experience, do not) occur after simple lobectomy, and comparisons of rates of BPF should therefore be strictly among pneumonectomies. Long recognized and without controversy are the important factors of a short stump, preservation of bronchial blood supply, and assurance of a disease-free margin. One controversial element is the necessity of covering the closed stump. Rienhoff, Gannon, and Sherman, 13 in an elegant series of experiments conducted in the 1940s, demonstrated that many main bronchial closures dehisce but are walled off by local mediastinal tissue or a pleural buttress. They confirmed these results in human beings. 13 Brewer and colleagues 5 also confirmed these findings experimentally and clinically with the use of pericardial fat pad. Their incidence of early BPF was reduced from 8% to 0% with the institution of routine stump coverage. Although no prospective randomized trial in human beings has been reported, the evidence seems clear and convincing. Because of the morbidity associated with postpneumonectomy BPF and the ease and lack of complications of a tissue buttress, it seems logical to cover at least all stumps from right pneumonectomies. We cover all stumps from left pneumonectomies as well, realizing that left BPFs occasionally do occur. This practice has not yet been tested in a randomized trial, and it is doubtful that coverage of left pneumonectomy stumps would significantly reduce the incidence of BPF because of its already low rate of occurrence. Left pneumonectomy stumps in high-risk situations (high-dose radiation, mechanical ventilation) should certainly be covered.
Significant controversy remains regarding the precise method of stump closure, especially with respect to use of the stapler. Some stapler enthusiasts have suggested that a stapled closure is superior to a hand-sewn one. 3 There are few recent reports on the results of stapled main bronchus closure (Table III) 2,9,14; several reports, however, including ours, have recently documented an extremely low rate of BPF after pneumonectomy with sutured bronchial closure (Table III). 12,15,16 It is clear that manual closure is at least as good as, if not better than, stapled closure. More important, manual closure can always be performed, whereas stapled closure should be avoided when the bronchus is thickened. 2 Although pneumonectomy should not be performed by a surgeon unaccustomed to the procedure, one advantage of stapling is that it appears to require less technical skill. Most remarkable is the complete absence of BPF with the tracheal closure technique reported by Jack 16 and by Sarsam and Moussali 16 (Table III). Jack 16 extended the principle proposed by Brewer and coworkers 5 of tension-free repair with a membranous wall flap by completely resecting the cartilaginous bronchial rings back to the carina and effecting a tension-free tracheal closure. The results of Jack are unparalleled, suggesting that, as suspected, tension is probably the leading cause of sporadic postpneumonectomy BPF.
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Appendix: Discussion
Dr. Joseph I. Miller (Atlanta, Ga.)
There is little of which to be critical in this presentation. The trite saying, "What ain't broke, leave alone," best describes the experience at the Massachusetts General regarding the technique of bronchial closure. The incidence of BPF of 3.1% and mortality rate of 4.3% are certainly in the lower ranges of those in the literature. The noted increases in incidence in BPF related to right pneumonectomy, preoperative pulmonary infection, and ventilatory requirements are consistent with previous reports.
With respect to comparison of stapled and sutured stumps, our group in 1992 described 302 patients undergoing pneumonectomy in whom coverage was provided on the right side; there were almost identical incidence of BPF and mortality rate, within 0.2% in each case. One of the values of suture closure of the bronchus is that our residents remain able to learn this technique, as so often in the majority of university centers, all bronchi are stapled.
I would raise several points. The authors cover all bronchial stumps. We tend to cover only the right routinely because the left pulls up under the aortic arch. This is the choice of the individual surgeon. I find no increased incidence of BPF, particularly on the left side, after left pneumonectomy without coverage. Second, they comment that the omentum is routinely used when the patients have had preoperative radiation therapy more than 5000 rads. I suggest that perhaps intercostal muscle, or the serratus anterior, could be used without a laparotomy for harvest. Third, a strip of one of the new patches being developed by Gore, Peri-Guard, and other commercial concerns, laid over the bronchial stump, may provide increased closure without mobilization of in situ tissue. My only other comment is that if postoperative ventilation is required, it is best to set a peak pressure to protect the bronchial stump, even though it is certainly still hard to do so.
Dr. Wright
To address your first comment, we do emphasize that we believe that it is certainly permissible not to cover the left stump. It is our routine practice to do so, and the fistula rate at our hands is only 1%. We believe, however, that 1% is still too high, and it would be advantageous to reduce it further. There are basically no side effects or sequelae of harvesting a pericardial fat pad, an intercostal muscle, or a piece of pleura, so why not do it, why not aim for perfection?
Second, as you know, we have a predilection for the use of the omentum because of its excellent track record. We have no disagreement whatsoever with using extrathoracic muscles such as the serratus anterior, which can be harvested with minimal morbidity and in fact somewhat faster than the omentum. I would caution against the use of intercostal muscle in cases of preoperative radiation, because that muscle is commonly irradiated.
Finally, we still adhere to the principle—elucidated by Rienhoff, Gannon, and Sherman, 13 and further promulgated by Brewer and colleagues 5—of covering these stumps with viable tissue, and currently see no need to change. The experiments of Rienhoff, Gannon, and Sherman 13 in the 1940s and by Brewer and colleagues 5 in the 1950s are unequaled and provide, I think, adequate evidence to suggest that all stumps at high risk, and I include right pneumonectomies in that category, should be covered.
Dr. Joe B. Putnam, Jr. (Houston, Texas)
Postpneumonectomy BPF is a difficult problem that occurs rarely yet with many options for treatment. First, were you able to evaluate the rate of BPF development in patients with cancer compared with those with diagnoses other than cancer? Second, were there any manipulations of the bronchial stump that you consistently used to develop the suture closure with respect to length, tissue handling, blood supply, and so forth?
Dr. Wright
We did analyze the differences in fistula rates among patients with lung cancer, other malignancy, and infection, and there were no statistically significant differences. All margins were found to be clear by frozen-section analysis. A few margins were subsequently reevaluated as carcinoma in situ, but none had invasive carcinoma.
In terms of actually performing the procedure and making the membranous wall flap, we do take artistic license with that and vary its use according to the pathologic condition. It is sometimes not possible to make nearly as long a flap as one would like, and I suspect that short flaps may have led in part to the eight fistulas in our study. Now that I am fully aware of Jack's technique, 16 I will consider changing this technique when I cannot design a long posterior membranous wall flap in the usual fashion.
Footnotes
Read at the Seventy-sixth Annual Meeting of The American Association for Thoracic Surgery, San Diego, Calif., April 28–May 1, 1996. 
References
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