Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery for Recurrent Spontaneous Pneumothorax: The Long-term Benefit

Background Management of recurrent primary spontaneous pneumothoraxby open surgery was considered the treatment of choice until recently. The major drawbacks of this management are the prolonged postoperative pain and cosmetic results. In the last decade, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery(VATS) has replaced the routine use of open surgery. Most papers that compared limited open surgery to VATS addressed the early postoperative results, and studies that assessed the long-term results focused primarily on the rate of recurrence and pulmonary function tests. The aim of this study was to compare the outcome of minithoracotomy and VATS with emphasis on patients’ long-term, subjective perspective and satisfaction.