Ann Thorac Surg 2007;83:196
© 2007 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Original Articles: General Thoracic
Invited commentary
Mark Allen, MD
Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St, SW, Rochester, MN 55905
(Email: allen.mark{at}mayo.edu).
The article by Keeling and colleagues [1] is the first publication ever from the annual meeting of the General Thoracic Surgical Club (GTSC). The Club was founded almost 20 years ago by a group of thoracic surgeons who had a special interest in general thoracic surgery and meets once a year. The annual meeting not only provides education and allows open discussion about current topics of general thoracic surgery, but also gives members and their families a chance to make new acquaintances and renew existing friendships. Attendance at the meeting is open to all; however membership in the club is limited to surgeons whose practice is at least 50% general thoracic surgery (see www.gtsc.org). Recently, abstract presentations have been added to the meetings program to allow more members to attend. The article by Kelling and colleagues [1] is one of the abstract presentations presented at the GTSC annual meeting.
The article highlights a postoperative complication that is rarely mentioned (ie, aspiration pneumonia). The authors have demonstrated that by careful screening, a surprisingly high percentage (17.8%) of patients were identified who aspirate after pulmonary resection. Although the total number of patients examined is small, preoperative head and neck cancer and preoperative chemotherapy were found to be significant risk factors for aspiration. An important question is whether or not identification of these patients before aspiration pneumonia occurs will improve outcomes. In this series, the authors could not prove any difference, except the mean length of stay was 1 day longer in patients who were identified at risk for aspiration. However, because the cost for a speech pathology evaluation is low compared with the massive expense of treating aspiration pneumonia, it would seem reasonable to screen patients for aspiration. Of course, a randomized clinical trial could be done to prove the efficacy of this technique, but until then, common sense dictates that screening patients for aspiration may further reduce the risk for patients undergoing a thoracic surgical operation.
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- Keeling WB, Lewis V, Blazick E, Maxey TS, Garrett JR, Sommers KE. Routine evaluation for aspiration after thoracotomy for pulmonary resection Ann Thorac Surg 2007;83:193-196.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
Related Article
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Routine Evaluation for Aspiration After Thoracotomy for Pulmonary Resection
- W. Brent Keeling, Vicki Lewis, Elizabeth Blazick, Thomas S. Maxey, Joseph R. Garrett, and K. Eric Sommers
Ann. Thorac. Surg. 2007 83: 193-196.
[Abstract]
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