Right Middle Lobectomy on Metallic Foreign Body Using the Uniportal Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery: A First Experience in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The removal of metallic foreign bodies in the lower airways, a source of recurrent pneumonia, is not currently performed in the Congolese population using video-assisted thoracoscopy surgery (VATS) under unipulmonary ventilation. Multiple failures of rigid and/or flexible bronchoscopy are likely to be a cause of morbidity and mortality. To the best of our knowledge, we report a first experience in DRC, of right middle lobectomy on metallic foreign body by VATS in a 14-year-old girl after two years of accidental inhalation of a metallic key, in the face of two bronchoscopy failures. A partial transverse bronchotomy successfully performed under VATS allowed extraction of the foreign body followed by bronchial reconstruction with resection of the right middle lung lobe. The aim of the multidisciplinary team was to determine whether lobectomy by VATS would result in shorter hospital stays, fewer complications and faster recovery than lobectomy by thoracotomy, to review the key stages of case management using an unusual approach in the region, and to draw a conclusion based on this first experience.