Robotic Left-Sided Excision of a Bronchogenic Cyst

The patient was a 35-year-old woman who had reported experiencing an intermittent and really productive cough for several years that was very offensive and troublesome in nature. She also reported intermittent chest infections over the years. She was diagnosed with a left main bronchus cyst from her noncontrast computed tomography scan after excluding an esophageal anomaly on a barium swallow.

The cyst was interestingly collapsed because obviously it had a connection to the airways, and the airways were under negative pressure because the patient was on one-lung ventilation with some suction. The authors cut open the cyst, washed it out, excised it, and sent it for histology.

The authors mobilized a small amount of mediastinal tissue to place over the hole. Initially, they were thinking of putting a big pericardial patch over it. Because the hole ended up looking so small, they thought it would be better to minimize the amount of prosthetic material in the chest and they instead used a piece of mediastinal tissue.

The patient was expected to recover from this procedure very rapidly with minimal postoperative pain.

Suggested Reading

1. Cerfolio RJ, Bryant AS. Robotic-assisted pulmonary resection – right upper lobectomy. Ann Cardiothorac Surg. 2012;1(1):77-85.