CHYLOTHORAX COMPLICATING LEFT LOWER SLEEVE LOBECTOMY

Postoperative chylothorax is an infrequent but potential life-threaten ing complication and has most often been described following oesophage al resection. Its incidence after pulmonary resection is low, but has increased to 0.3-0.5%, probably due to more extensive types of resecti ons and radical lymph node dissections. We report a case of chylothora x after a left sleeve lobectomy for a primary bronchogenic carcinoma, that was treated conservatively with chest tube drainage and a diet of medium chain triglycerides. Five additional case reports in English a nd French literature confirmed chylothorax after bronchoplastic proced ures to be extremely rare. More frequent use of bronchial sleeve resec tion as alternative to pneumonectomy to save functional lung tissue, c an increase the incidence of chylothorax after bronchoplastic procedur es.