Thoracoscopic ablation of blebs in the treatment of recurrent or persistent spontaneous pneumothorax.

Recurrent (6 patients) or persistent (4 patients) spontaneous pneumothorax was treated with thoracoscopic ablation of blebs using an electrocautery as an alternative to lung resection. Patients' ages ranged from 17 to 39 years (mean age, 29 years). Ablation was successful in 9 but failed in 1. The mean postoperative hospital stay of the successful cases was 2.1 days. The only failure in this series had an extensive bullalike air cyst involving the apex, and cauterization could not ablate it completely. The follow-up period ranged from 2 to 22 months. During this period, no recurrence was noted.