Abstract:

A retrospective study was conducted by analyzing the clinical information and data collected from 68 patients with tuberculous bronchopleural fistula who were admitted to the Chest Surgery Department of Hebei Chest Hospital from January 2010 to December 2016. Each patient received regular and effective anti-tuberculosis treatment for 12-18 months. Before operation, each patient also received thoracic irrigation (based on the bacterial culture results to provide saline+isoniazid or saline+levofloxacin or saline+chlorhexidine acetate) for 3-12 months, and then the patients received the operations as follows for treatment: simple thoracic irrigation, pleural decortication, bronchial pleural fistula repair, thoracoplasty and other methods. The results showed that: out of the 68 patients, 7 patients were cured with fistula closure by receiving simple thoracic irrigation; 20 patients were cured by receiving pleural decortication and fistula repair; 38 patients were cured by receiving thoracoplasty and fistula repair; 3 patients had long-term survival with chest tube drainage. Application of preoperative thoracic irrigation in patients with tuberculous bronchopleural fistula can effectively control thoracic infection and provide a favorable conditions for postoperative surgery, and thus improve the success rate of surgery.

Key words: Tuberculosis, Bronchial fistula, Preoperative period, Drainage, Retrospective studies, Treatment outcome