This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Permission Requests Google Scholar Articles by Maniwa, T. Articles by Saito, Y. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Maniwa, T. Articles by Saito, Y.

Management of a complicated pulmonary fistula caused by lung cancer using a fibrin glue-soaked polyglycolic acid sheet covered with an intercostal muscle flap

Department of Thoracic Cardiovascular Surgery, Kansai Medical University Hospital, Kansai Medical University, 2-3-1 Shinmachi, Hrakata, Osaka, Japan

*Corresponding author. Tel.: +81-72-804-0101; fax: +81-6-6994-7022.

E-mail address: maniwat{at}hirakata.kmu.ac.jp (T. Maniwa).

Pulmonary fistulas caused by tumours are very fragile and difficult to suture directly. It is impossible to close pulmonary fistulas with tissue sealants when massive air leakage occurs in the low pressure of the respiratory tract. A 73-year-old man with a pneumothorax caused by lung cancer had suffered a persistent massive air leakage for more than one month. We used a fibrin glue-soaked polyglycolic acid (PGA) sheet for sealing the complicated fistula. In addition, the visceral pleura of the fistula was wrapped with the pedicle of an intercostal muscle (ICM) flap to prevent massive air leakage. The pneumothorax did not reappear after surgery. Thus, a fibrin glue-soaked PGA sheet covered with an ICM flap was effective for sealing an intractable air-leaking fistula caused by lung cancer.

Key Words: Lung cancer; Pneumothorax; Intercostal muscle flap