[Surgical treatment of giant emphysematous lung bullae].

Objective: Lack of Brazilian publications regarding this disease in Brazil led us to perform the current work to describe the historical evolution and to analyze results of the surgical treatment of Giant Emphysematous Lung Bullae at the Santa Casa de São Paulo.

Methods: We have retrospectively assessed, between January 1979 and June 2005, the medical records of 83 patients submitted to one of four surgical modalities: the thoracoscopic bullectomy, VATS bullectomy, VATS bullae drainage and bullae drainage with local anesthesia, totaling 92 surgeries. Parameters analyzed were hospitalization time, post-surgical complications, perioperative and late mortality in addition to clinical and functional pre- and post- surgical parameters.