European Pediatric Surgeons' Association Survey on the Management of Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax in Children
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In brief
In brief
Survey of 131 EUPSA members across 44 countries reveals significant practice variation in managing pediatric primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Most surgeons favor interventional treatment with chest tube insertion for first episodes, while thoracoscopic bullectomy with pleurodesis is preferred for recurrent cases, though timing of surgical intervention remains inconsistent.
Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.
Aim To evaluate the practice patterns of the European Pediatric Surgeons' Association (EUPSA) members regarding the management of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) in children.
Methods An online survey was distributed to all members of EUPSA.
Results In total, 131 members from 44 countries participated in the survey. Interventional approach (78%) is the most common choice of treatment in the first episode, and most commonly, chest tube insertion (71%) is performed. In the case of a respiratory stable patient, 60% of the responders insert chest tubes if the pneumothorax is more than 2 cm. While 49% of surgeons prefer surgical intervention in the second episode, 42% still prefer chest tube insertion. Main indications for surgical treatment were the presence of bullae more than 2 cm (77%), and recurrent pneumothorax (76%). Eighty-four percent of surgeons prefer thoracoscopy and perform excision of bullae with safe margins (91%). To prevent recurrences, 54% of surgeons perform surgical pleurodesis with pleural abrasion (55%) and partial pleurectomy (22%). The responders who perform thoracoscopy use more surgical pleurodesis and prefer shorter chest tube duration than the surgeons performing open surgery (p