Use of a 1318 nm Nd:YAG laser for the resection of limited forms of pulmonary tuberculosis

Abstract Objective: A first experience of using a Nd:YAG laser with a wavelength of 1318 nm for limited forms of pulmonary tuberculosis surgery is reported. Subjects and methods: During the period from June 2013 to August 2015 a total of 32 patients (19 men and 13 women) underwent surgery for tuberculous granulomas. The average age of the patients was 37.3 years (median, 36 years; range, 18–61 years). Resections of granulomas were carried out using the laser alone (25 patients) or in combination with suturing devices (seven patients). Results: Overall 39 tuberculomas were removed from the 32 patients. The biggest growth measured 2.4×2.2×3.1 cm, while the smallest measured 0.5×0.5×0.5 cm. Overall, the average surgery time was 57 min (median, 50 min; range, 25–115 min). In the combined resection subgroup (using the laser and staplers), the average surgery time was 75 min (median, 50 min; range, 45–115 min). In the subgroup where lung resection was carried out using the laser alone, the average surgery time was 52 min (median, 45 min; range 25–95 min). Total blood loss during surgery was 53 ml (median, 45 ml; range 10–150 ml), 87 ml (median, 50 ml; range 15–150 ml) in the combined lung resection subgroup and 44 ml (median, 35 ml; range, 10–100 ml) in the laser only resection subgroup. Morphological analysis revealed the following results: a high level of tubercular activity was maintained in 12/39 (31%) resected tuberculous granulomas, a moderate level of tubercular activity was detected in 11/39 (28%) resected masses and remitting activity was identified in 16/39 (41%) resected masses. Along the laser resection line of the lung the edge of a tuberculous growth was found in 10/39 cases (26%). The average post-operative duration of pleural drainage was 3.9 days (median, 3 days; range, 2–9 days) in total, 4.1 days (median, 5 days; range, 2–6 days) in the combined subgroup and 3.8 days (median, 3 days; range, 2–9 days) in the laser-only subgroup. The number of post-operative complications assessed according to the Clavien-Dindo scale was two out of 32 patients (6.2%), with two cases of residual pleural cavities. Post operative mortality was 0%. Conclusion: Our first experience of using the Nd:YAG laser with a wavelength of 1318 nm for the resection of limited forms of tuberculosis demonstrated a high level of efficacy and excellent aero- and hemostatic properties with a low rate of post-operative complications even though the differences between the combined resection and laser-only subgroups were not statistically significant (p>0.05). However, the method is applicable in surgery of limited forms of lung tuberculosis in different variants, performing pure laser resections and as an additional method for other types of lung resections.