Efficacy of Thoracoscopic Surgery for Descending Necrotizing Mediastinitis

The authors sought differences in ninety-day postoperative mortality for patients treated with thoracotomy or video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) for descending necrotic mediastinitis (DNM). Sicker patients were more frequently treated with VATS. Although VATS patients had higher complication and reoperation rates, the risk-adjusted difference for ninety-day mortality was not statistically significantly different between thoracotomy and VATS.