Minimal Pulmonary Resection

Abstract

In over 3,000 resections for bronchial carcinoma done by the members of the Veterans Administration Surgical Adjuvant Group, 40 minimal pulmonary resections have been done. Eleven were palliative (identifiable tumor left in the hemithorax) and 29 were considered to be potentially curative. Fifteen of these latter procedures were segmental resections and 14 were wedge resections. Twenty-one were done as compromise procedures and 11 were done on an elective basis. In the 29 patients, there were two postoperative deaths, 18 patients have died prior to five years (nine due to active tumor and nine without clinical evidence of recurrent disease), one patient is alive four months postoperative, and eight patients have survived five years or longer. It is suggested that minimal resections may be selectively used in the treatment of bronchial carcinoma in patients with small peripheral tumors without lymph node involvement.