Therapeutic application of collateral ventilation with pulmonary drainage in the treatment of diffuse emphysema: report of the first three cases

Objective: TO report the results obtained in three patients with diffuse pulmonary emphysema during the pre- and post-operative periods following a new surgical technique: collateral ventilation with lung parenchyma drainage. Methods: Patients suffering from pulmonary failure and disabling dyspnea, despite having received the gold standard treatment, including pulmonary rehabilitation, were selected for the evaluation of pulmonary drainage. During the pre- and post-operative periods, patients were submitted to plethysmography and six-minute walk tests, as well as completing the following quality of life questionnaires: Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey, Saint George's Respiratory Questionnaire, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status and Medical Research Council Scale. In all three cases, the Postoperative follow-up period was at least 300 days. The tests were performed at the following time points: during the pre-operative period; between postoperative days 30 and 40; and on post-operative day 300. Data were analyzed using profile plots of the means. Results: When the results obtained in the pre-operative period were compared to those obtained at the two postoperative time points evaluated, improvements were observed in all parameters studied. Conclusions: The results suggest that the surgical technique proposed for the treatment of patients suffering from severe diffuse emphysema successfully reduces the debilitating symptoms of these patients, improving their quality of life considerably.