A New Traceless Technique for Cosmetic Closure of Minimally Invasive Incision and Chest Tube Fixation After Uniportal Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery

Zihao Chen; Ning Xin; Kenan Huang; Rongqiang Wei; Chengdong Liu; Shiwen Niu; Zhifei Xu; Xinyu Ding; Hua Tang

doi:10.3389/fsurg.2022.874983

A New Traceless Technique for Cosmetic Closure of Minimally Invasive Incision and Chest Tube Fixation After Uniportal Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery

Front Surg. 2022 Jun 30:9:874983. doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2022.874983. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Zihao Chen¹, Ning Xin¹, Kenan Huang¹, Rongqiang Wei¹, Chengdong Liu¹, Shiwen Niu², Zhifei Xu¹, Xinyu Ding¹, Hua Tang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Minimally Invasive Thoracic Surgery Center, Second Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China.
² Department of Biobank, Second Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

Background: With uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) becoming mainstream, how to make the incision cosmetic has attracted much attention. This study aimed to introduce a new traceless method for cosmetic closure of the incision and a special procedure for chest tube fixation after uniportal VATS and to evaluate the feasibility, effectiveness, and safety of this new technique.

Methods: In this retrospective study, a total of 258 consecutive patients who underwent uniportal VATS were included. Among them, 127 patients were treated with a conventional method, and 131 patients were treated with a new method.

Results: Patients in the new method group had a significantly less incidence of subcutaneous emphysema after the chest tube was removed. The incidence of pneumothorax after the chest tube was removed and fat liquefaction of chest incision was not significantly different between the two groups. No differences in the incidence of pneumothorax after chest tube removal and fat liquefaction of postsurgical incision were found between the two groups. Additionally, there was also no significant difference in follow-up items.

Conclusions: Taken together, our results showed that this new method for minimally invasive incision closure and chest tube fixation after uniportal VATS was as feasible, effective, and safe as the conventional one but more cosmetic.

Keywords: chest tube fixation; cosmetic closure of minimally invasive incision; removal-free technique; traceless technique; uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.