Objective:

In this retrospective study, we aimed to investigate the surgical and early postoperative outcomes of the patients who were performed mediastinoscopy in an outpatient setting at our clinic.

Material and Method:

A total of 48 patients were performed cervical video-mediastinoscopy between March 2014 and March 2017. Data of the patients were retrieved retrospectively. Mediastinoscopy was perfomed for mediastinal staging in 26 (54.1%) and for mediastinal lymphadenopathy in 22 (36.9%) patients. Mediastinoscopy with concurrent resections (n=11) were excluded. Patients to whom mediastinoscopy was performed only in an outpatient setting were included to the study. Thirty seven patients were included to the study.

Results:

Of the patients, 22 were male and 26 were female with a median age of 52 (range, 23-73) years. Patients without concurrent resections due to non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were discharged at the same day of procedure (n=37, substitution index: 100%). Mediastinoscopy revealed sarcoidosis in 13 (35.1%), metastasis of NSCLC in 10 (27%), anthracosis and reactive changes in six (16.2%), small cell lung cancer in two (0.54%), lymphoma in two (0.54%), metastasis of gastric cancer in two (0.54%), metastasis of breast cancer in one (0.27%), and tuberculosis in one (0.27%) patients. Postoperative course was uneventful and there was no mortality.

Conclusion:

Mediastinoscopy with its low complication rates is gold standard in the diagnosis of mediastinal pathologies. Majority of the complications are perioperative or occur on the operation day. Hospitalizations of the patients without any complications is not necessary, thus this procedure could be regarded as an ambulatory surgery. Outpatient application of this procedure could reduce the hospital costs and increase the patient satisfaction.

Keywords: Mediastinoscopy, lung cancer, cancer staging