The application of the percutaneous suturing technique in thoracoscopic repair of congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

BACKGROUND

Thoracoscopic surgery of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is connected with a higher incidence of recurrence than open repair is. This is usually caused by the dehiscence of sutures in the lateral part of the defect. This area is characterized by increased tension on proximate tissues and difficult thoracoscopic suturing. For more effective repair, the authors adopted a variant of percutaneous internal ring suturing (PIRS) technique.

OBJECTIVES

To present and evaluate the efficacy of the PIRS technique for the repair of CDH.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study is based on retrospective analysis of the medical data of patients with CDH treated in the Department of Pediatric Surgery of the Jagiellonian University Medical College (Kraków, Poland) from January 2013 to July 2019. The PIRS technique was applied when thoracoscopic repair under acceptable tension appeared impossible.

RESULTS

Fifty-one patients were identified. Of these, 11 children died before surgery and 1 after, leaving 39 (76%) who were operated on and survived. Thoracoscopy was used in 27 cases (69%), with 3 conversions. The recurrence rate in patients who underwent thoracoscopic closure of the defect with intermittent sutures was 27% (3 out of 11 children), while in the group that underwent thoracoscopic repair with the additional use of percutaneous suturing, the recurrence rate was 6.25% (1 out of 16 patients). The follow-up periods ranged from 4 months to 6 years.

CONCLUSIONS

The applied PIRS technique permits safe and effective closure of intermediate-size diaphragmatic defects under acceptable tension. The method is feasible and can be listed among countermeasures against recurrence.