ObjectiveTo explore the necessity of routine X-ray examination after lung surgery based on patient symptom burden. MethodsA retrospective study was conducted including patients underwent thoracoscopic lung resection in the Department of Thoracic Surgery at uangdong Provincial People's Hospital from March 2020 to April 2023. Symptom burden was evaluated using the Perioperative Symptom Assessment Lung inventory. Results A total of 2 101 patients were included in the analysis. The median age was 56 years and 52.3% of included patients were female. Among patients who underwent routine postoperative chest X-ray, only 1% patients accepted intervention. Among patients who had chest X-ray after chest tube removal, only 0.5% of them needed intervention. Among patients who had chest X-ray one month after discharge, only 1.3% of them required intervention. The intervention group had significantly worse shortness of breath (3 vs. 2, P<0.05), pain (2 point vs. 1 point, P=0.039), and disturbed sleep (3 vs. 2, P<0.05) compared with the normal group. Conclusion Very few routine postoperative chest X-ray examinations changed patients’ management, and patients who needed extra intervention tended to have more severe symptom burden after surgery.
Objective To explore the timing and safety of limited-period lung cancer surgery in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Methods Clinical data of of patients infected with COVID-19 undergoing lung cancer surgery (an observation group) in the Department of Thoracic Surgery of Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, the Department of Thoracic Surgery of General Hospital of Southern Theater Command of PLA, and the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University from December 2022 to January 2023 were retrospectively analyzed and compared with patients who underwent surgery during the same period but were not infected with COVID-19 (a control group), to explore the impact of COVID-19 infection on lung cancer surgery. Results We finally included 110 patients with 73 patients in the observation group (28 males and 45 females at age of 52.62±12.80 years) and 37 patients in the control group (22 males and 15 females at age of 56.84±11.14 years). The average operation time of the observation group was longer than that of the control group, and the incidence of anhelation was higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). There were no statistcal differences in blood loss, length of hospital stay, moderate or above fever rate, degree of cough and chest pain, or blood routine between the two groups. ConclusionIt is safe and feasible to perform lung cancer surgery early after recovery for COVID-19 patients with lung cancer.