Changes in Pleural Cavity Volume and Surgical Exposure

Odense University Hospital

Status: Unknown

Conditions: Thoracic Cancer

Treatments: Procedure: Diaphragmatic traction-suture

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04837950

20/44867

Details and patient eligibility

About

The investigators want to investigate if a diaphragmatic traction-suture affects the pleural cavity volume, as well as improves visual overview of a surgical field during minimally invasive thoracic surgery.

Full description

A visually good surgical field is essential in performing safe and optimal dissection of anatomical structures during Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS). A number of patients referred to VATS-surgery appear with an elevated diaphragm, reducing visibility and complicating safe surgical techniques, thus entailing conversion from VATS into an open Thoracotomy. Some surgeons handle the decreased visibility due to an elevated diaphragm by increasing the amount of ports during VATS. Others have benefited from attaching a traction suture on the diaphragmatic posterior tendinous part, thus flatting the diaphragmatic dome when the suture is tightly retracted through the camera-port. It turns out that most thoracic surgery clinics are not familiar with this technique. There are also no articles regarding this topic in medical literature. We want to investigate if the diaphragmatic traction-suture affects the pleural cavity volume, as well as improves visual overview of a surgical field during minimally invasive thoracic surgery.

Enrollment: 40 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• known or suspected lung cancer
• scheduled for VATS-surgery
• perioperative finding of elevated diaphragma

Exclusion criteria

• not willing to give informed consent.
• perioperative finding of pleural adherences
• perioperative finding without an elevated diaphragma

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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40 participants in 2 patient groups

Before pulling diaphragmatic suture

Experimental group

Description:

Measurement of pleural cavity volume and visual overview before pulling diaphragmatic suture

Treatment:

Procedure: Diaphragmatic traction-suture

After pulling diaphragmatic suture

Experimental group

Description:

Measurement of pleural cavity volume and visual overview after pulling diaphragmatic suture

Treatment:

Procedure: Diaphragmatic traction-suture