We investigated the effect of the type of thoracotomy on the patient quality of life using the Short Form-36 Health Survey, and found that the standard posterolateral thoracotomy had a marked adverse effect on the quality of life compared to muscle-sparing thoracotomy. We also found that it is possible to use thoracotomy with serratus preservation rather than muscle-sparing thoracotomy in cases with benign diseases where a large field of view is required, such as for decortication and pulmonary hydatid cysts, without any significant decrease in the quality of life, especially in females.
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