Background: Thoracoscopic diaphragmatic plication has gained popularity in the treatment of congenital diaphragmatic eventration (CDE), but the therapeutic effect and prognosis have rarely been compared with nonendoscopic surgery. Materials and Methods: The medical records of 77 children who had received treatment for CDE in our institution from September 2006 to January 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the repair approach, the children were divided into a thoracoscopic plication group and a modified small incision plication group. The perioperative characteristics and follow-up details after diaphragm plication were compared between the two groups. Results: Among 77 children with CDE, 44 cases were in the thoracoscopic plication group and 33 cases were in the modified small incision plication group. All the cases of CDE were unilateral, with 13 cases on the left side and 64 cases on the right side. There were no differences in the preoperative characteristics between the two groups. The modified small incision plication group had a higher bleeding volume (P = .000) and a greater proportion of patients needing chest drainage (P = .000), whereas the differences in the total and postoperative hospital stays (P = .088, P = .247, respectively) did not significantly differ between the two groups. There were no differences in postoperative improvement in the location of the diaphragm between the two groups or between the right and left lesions (P = .438, P = .677, respectively). The total follow-up time was 2-11 years. No recurrence was reported during this period in either of the groups, but the incidence of postoperative thoracic deformities was higher in the modified small incision plication group (P = .013). Conclusions: Compared with the modified small incision plication, thoracoscopic plication has the advantages of smaller blood loss, a low percentage of intrathoracic drainage tube usage, and no occurrence of thoracic deformities.
Keywords: comparative study; congenital diaphragmatic eventration; modified small incision plication; thoracoscopic plication.