Morbidity, mortality, and survival after bronchoplastic procedures for lung cancer

OBJECTIVE: Bronchoplastic procedures represent an effective surgical therapy for benign lesions, tumors of low-grade malignancy and also bronchogenic carcinoma in patients with a limited pulmonary function. We analyzed our experience in order to verify the mortality, morbidity, and long term survival in our patients. METHODS: From 1980 to 1994, 217 patients underwent bronchoplastic procedures. We performed 92 bronchoplasties, 94 bronchial sleeves, and 31 tracheo-bronchial sleeves. Histologic examination revealed 133 epidermoid carcinomas, 28 adenocarcinomas, 11 small cells lung cancers, 5 large cells carcinomas, 2 adenosquamous carcinomas, 29 bronchial carcinoids, 6 adenoidocistic carcinomas, and 3 mucoepidermoid tumors. Regarding nodal status, 99 patients had N0 disease, 64 patients had N1 disease, and 54 patients had N2 disease. Thirty-six patients had preoperative irradiation and 181 patients had no preoperative irradiation. In 63 patients we used a perianastomotic pedicled flap; in 154 we did not use it. We considered all the 217 patients for the analysis of 30-day mortality and morbidity; of the 217 patients we analyzed long-term survival only in 179 because we excluded 38 patients with low grade malignant neoplasm. RESULTS: Twenty-seven patients (12.5%) had postoperative complications. The 30-day mortality was 6.2% (14 patients). Survival at 5 and 10 years for all patients but those with low grade malignant neoplasm was 49 and 38%, respectively. For patients with N0 status 5- and 10-year survival was 72.4 and 59.4%; for patients with N1 status these rates were 35.7 and 26.8%; for patients with N2 status, 5- and 10-year survival was 22 and 14.4%. Postoperative complication rates for patients with or without pedicled flap are not significantly different; however, the rates for patients with or without preoperative irradiation are significantly different. CONCLUSIONS: Bronchoplastic procedures are a safe and effective therapy for selected patients with pulmonary malignancy. Tracheo-bronchial sleeves are associated with high postoperative mortality and complication rates and these procedures should be limited to patients without N2 disease. Preoperative irradiation increases significantly the mortality and morbidity. A multivariate analysis shows that only the nodal status affects long-term survival (P = 0.0002).