Surgical Outcomes After Pulmonary Resection With Typical or Atypical Bronchoplasty in Patients With Primary Lung Cancer

Background/Aim: Atypical bronchoplasty is essential for complete tumor removal and preservation of peripheral lung tissue. This study compared surgical outcomes after atypical or typical bronchoplasty in patients who underwent pulmonary sleeve resection with bronchoplasty. Patients and Methods: Typical bronchoplasty was defined as that after one-lobe sleeve resection; atypical bronchoplasty was defined as that after sleeve bilobectomy or sleeve removal of one lobe plus segments. Double-barreled bronchoplasty was also included in the atypical group. Surgical outcomes were retrospectively investigated according to type of bronchoplasty. Results: Fifty-one patients underwent typical bronchoplasty and 20 atypical bronchoplasty. Recurrence was seen in 17 out of 51 (33%) patients after typical bronchoplasty and 10 out of 20 patients (50%) after atypical bronchoplasty. The recurrence-free survival rate was significantly poorer in the atypical bronchoplasty group (p=0.038). However, patients in the atypical bronchoplasty group were able to receive anticancer treatment for tumor recurrence, and there was no significant difference in overall survival rates between the groups. Conclusion: Preservation of pulmonary function by atypical bronchoplasty might contribute to tolerability of anticancer treatment for tumor recurrence. Pulmonary resection with atypical bronchoplasty is reliably beneficial for overall survival.