Lung abscess presenting as tension pyopneumothorax in a gastrointestinal cancer patient.

We report a surgical case of tension pyopneumothorax in a patient who was receiving chemotherapy for esophageal cancer. A 68-year-old man who had undergone total gastrectomy with splenectomy for gastric cancer and was receiving chemotherapy for esophageal cancer was presented to our hospital with dyspnea. Left tension pyopneumothorax was diagnosed, and he received left lower lobectomy after pleural drainage. His postoperative course was uneventful, and he is alive without any cancer recurrences 5 years after the lobectomy. Once tension pyopneumothorax has developed from lung abscess, emergent lobectomy may be a useful option to prevent lethal aspiration pneumonia.