Background: Preoperative chemotherapy or radiotherapy could affect bronchial mucosa blood flow and also the normal healing process of bronchial stump after surgical resection. Otherwise, bronchopleural fistula (BPF) is the worst and time consuming complication in lung cancer surgery. Pneumonectomy is reported as a high risk surgery of BPF. Here, we report our successful treatment experience of BPF using omentum after salvage radiotherapy in NSCLC patient. Method: Retrospective medical chart review Result: A sixty-four years old male patient who had a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease diagnosed as squamous carcinoma in left upper lobe, clinical stage of T2aN1M0. Because interlobar artery invasion was suspicious, the patient was treated with radical radiotherapy. After 6600cGy of radiotherapy, the lesion showed marked response. Thus we decided to perform curative surgical resection, pneumonectomy. The patient had discharged in postoperative day 11 and the pathologic report was ypT1aN0M0. But after 1 week from discharge, the patient readmitted and complained of dyspnea and profound sputum. In bronchoscopy, fistula was seen. We performed the second operation. Due to hard fibrosis, direct closure of bronchial stump was not possible. Thus, we covered the stump site with omental flap in multilayers. The patient discharged uneventfully and now in disease free status almost after 2 years from initial operation. Conclusion: Neoadjuvant radiation therapy and pneumonectomy are risk factors for post-operative BPF. Direct closure with buttressing biocompatible flap is the treatment of choice. But if direct closure is not possible, double-layered omentopexy could be an alternative treatment strategy.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.