An Assessment of Minimally Invasive Techniques for the Diagnosis of Benign and Malignant Thoracic Diseases

Abstract

Introduction: Changes in medical technology cover all specialties and, within them, general surgery. Minimally invasive techniques have played a paramount role in the diagnosis and treatment of thoracic cavity diseases.

Objective: To describe the use of minimally invasive techniques in the diagnosis of intrathoracic diseases.

Methods: An observational, retrospective and cross-sectional study was carried out, from January 2017 to May 2020, in order to assess the use of minimally invasive techniques in the diagnosis of intrathoracic diseases at Manuel Ascunce Domenech University Hospital. The universe was made up of 104 patients with suspected benign or malignant diseases of the chest.

Results: Most of the patients with benign and malignant chest diseases were 49 (± 7.05) years old, without intersex significance. Arterial hypertension predominated as the main comorbidity. Videothoracoscopy was the most widely used minimally invasive technique, while suspicion of lung cancer and pleural disease were the most frequent indications that motivated the procedure. The postoperative diagnosis that predominated in the series was lung cancer. The minimally invasive techniques used showed high validity. Most of the patients were discharged alive and without complications.

Conclusions: The use of minimally invasive techniques in various intrathoracic diseases are of vital importance to define diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords: Videothoracoscopy; videomediastinoscopy; diagnosis; complications.