Influence of caliber mismatch on patients' clinical course after sleeve lobectomy.

Objective: Respiratory complications are critical events after sleeve lobectomy. A caliber mismatch is an important factor in wound healing at the anastomotic site. This study aimed to determine the influence of caliber mismatches on patients' clinical courses after sleeve lobectomy.

Methods: We investigated the clinical courses of 56 patients with primary lung cancer who underwent pulmonary resection with end-to-end bronchoplasty. Anastomoses between the main bronchus and the segmental, right upper or middle bronchus, and between the trunks intermedius and the segmental or middle bronchus are categorized as an "anastomosis with caliber mismatch".

Results: Among the 56 patients, 22 underwent bronchoplasty with caliber mismatch. There were no in-hospital deaths, and the mortality rates at the 30- and 90-day evaluations were zero. Respiratory complications (n = 10, 52%, p = 0.005), such as pneumonia (n = 7, 32%, p = 0.029), retention of pleural effusion (n = 6, 27%, p = 0.026) and bronchopleural fistula (n = 3, 14%, p = 0.027), were significantly increased after bronchoplasty with caliber mismatch. Lower body mass index (BMI) is a significant risk factor for respiratory complications after sleeve lobectomy with caliber mismatch (median value; 23.2 vs 21.2, p = 0.036).

Conclusions: Significant respiratory complications are apparent after bronchoplasty with caliber mismatch, especially patients with low BMI have a high risk of respiratory complications. Appropriate patient selection and cautious perioperative management are mandatory for this type of lung-preserving surgery.