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Pneumothorax
- Question
- Hallo,
our son is has been hospitalized for three weeks now because of a pneumothorax. Agglutination with glucose/talcum did not work. Now surgery is considered. Unfortunately his condition is very poor: His BMI is 13.8 and his lung function 27%.
How is this surgery performed and how much success may we expect? Should this treatment be performed in an experienced CF clinic or can this be done in every clinic with thoracic surgery?
- Answer
- Hello,
During that kind of surgery usually the surface of the lung is roughened to - by consecutive inflammation - adhere to the inner surface of the chest wall. In consideration of the given data about your son’s condition I regard the therapy in a CF experienced clinic as very important. Possibly the additional opinion of a transplant surgeon should be obtained.
About the sucess rate of the surgery there is a consensus paper from Schidlow et al. (1993: "Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Conseneus Conference Report on Pulmonary Complications of Cystic Fibrosis") in which is written that there is unpublished data from a retrospective review of treatment of pneumothorax in 192 patients where thoracotomy showed a success rate of 96%.
With kind regards
PD Dr. M. Ballmann
- 17.11.2008
