The Importance of Biological Glue for the Prevention of Air Leakage in Pulmonary Surgery

Abstract

Air leakage is one of the major problems in thoracic surgery. Due to pleural complications it leads to increased morbidity, thus prolonging hospitalization. This prospective, randomized study was conducted in 44 partial pulmonary resections associated with a peeling procedure. We compared two groups, one with and one without the use of biological glue (Tissucol) over the scissure. The two groups were comparable in age, disease, nutritional state, cooperation, type, duration of operation, and peri- and postoperative bleeding. The study focused essentially on duration of drainage and hospitalization, with or without Tissucol, respectively: the duration of drainage was 3.9 ± 2.2 days (n = 22) and 6.4 ± 6.4 days (n = 22; p = 0.093), and the duration of hospitalization was 8.6 ± 2.9 days (n = 22) and 11.2 ± 5.6 days (n = 22; p = 0.059).

Seven patients benefited from double doses of Tissucol, while 15 patients received a single dose. The comparison between the two groups showed that: the duration of drainage was 4.6 ± 2.2 days (n = 15) with the single dose and 2.5 ± 1.5 days (n = 7) with the double dose (p = 0.042), and the duration of hospitalization was 9.6 ± 2.9 days (n = 15) with the single dose and 6.5 ± 1.6 days (n = 7) with the double dose (p = 0.018). The preliminary results of this study confirms that biological glue applied over the scissure significantly decreases the duration of drainage and hospitalization when used only with double doses.