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Sathiamurthy et al. Mini-invasive Surg 2020;4:38 I http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2574-1225.2020.25 Page 3 of 8

Table 1. Patient demographics
Variables Number (%)
Age (years ± SD) 41 ± 21.2
Sex
Male 104 (61)
Female 65 (39)
Comorbids
Diabetes mellitus 27 (16)
Ischemic heart disease 5 (3)
Hypertension 31 (18)
ESRF 5 (3)
COAD 15 (9)
Previous TB 17 (10)
Metastatic disease 12 (7)
No Co-morbidities 57 (34)
Diagnosis
Empyema thoracis 25 (15)
Ruptured bullae 34 (20)
Haemothorax 11 (7)
Benign lung tumors 15 (9)
Malignant lung tumors 36 (21)
Aspergillosis 9 (5)
Thymic diseases 25 (15)
Ectopic thyroid/parathyroid 6 (3.5)
Diaphragmatic eventration 6 (3.5)
Lung sequestration 2 (1)
Total 169
Categorical variables were reported as frequency counts and percentages. ESRF: End stage renal failure; COAD: chronic obstructive
airway disease; TB: tuberculosis.

As shown in Table 2, the commonest U-VATS procedure was bullectomy with pleurodesis. This was
followed by lobectomy, thymectomy and decortications. The conversion rate to either a biportal VATS or a
mini-thoracotomy was 10%. There was no mortality in U-VATS cases.

Operative time
This varied according to the procedure performed. The average operating time for bullectomy and
pleurodesis was 80 min. The longest lobectomy procedure was for aspergilloma, which took 244 min. This
is likely because of dense adhesions of the lung to the chest wall and distorted anatomy. Thymectomies
were performed via a right U-VATS approach and the average time taken was 147 min.

Comparing the mean operating time between these three procedures in the first and second year, timing is
better in the second year but without any significant difference [Table 3].

Blood loss
U-VATS decortication caused the most amount of blood loss at an average of 350 mL, followed by
aspergilloma at 315 mL and bronchoplasty at 250 mL. In the first year of performing U-VATS lobectomy
for aspergilloma, the mean blood loss was higher than that in the second year although there was no
significant difference. The rest of the procedures had < 150 mL of blood loss.

Duration of drain placement and hospital stay
The duration of drain placement for U-VATS procedures ranged between 1 to 7 days. Infective cases such
as empyema thoracis and aspergilloma tend to have a longer duration of drain placement compared to non-
infective cases such as bullae, NSCLC and thymectomy. Most patients had their drain removed by post-
operative day (POD) 3 when the drain amount was less than 100 mL.

Patients undergoing U-VATS for non-infective causes were usually discharged by POD 3 or 4. The longest
hospital stay was seen in patients with haemothorax, empyema and aspergilloma undergoing U-VATS
procedures, which was around 7 days.