Thoracic endometriosis surgery

Objective: To report our experience of the surgical management of thoracic endometriosis. Materials and methods This was a retrospective and prospective study which lasted 18 years (January 1994-December 2012) and included 19 patients with an average age of 32 years (19 to 49 years) operated on for thoracic endometriosis. There were 12 cases of catamenial pneumothorax, 6 cases of catamenial haemothorax and 1 case of pulmonary nodule. The patients were all nulliparous with a history of dysmenorrhoea except the one with the pulmonary nodule, 2 patients had confirmed pelvic endometriosis. Standard chest X-rays were performed systematically, bronchial fibroscopy 2 times, thoracic CT scans 6 times, and thoracoabdominal ultrasound 1 time. The lesions were located on the right in 17 cases, on the left in 1 case and bilaterally in 1 case. Results. The patients were operated on during (7 cases) or just after (11 cases) menstruation by posterolateral thoracotomy. 4 patients underwent preoperative pleural drainage for massive effusions. Plaques of diaphragmatic endometriosis were observed in 16 cases.

Autorentext
Ouede Raphaël, thoracic surgeon at the thoracic surgery department of the Abidjan cardiology institute (Ivory Coast) and assistant professor at the Félix Houphouet Boigny university.