Trial Information

Efficacy of Endobronchial Valves in Persistent Air Leak After Anatomical Pulmonary Resection for Cancer.

Persistent Air Leak (PAL) is independently associated with prolonged hospital length of
stay, decreased patient satisfaction, increased morbidity or postoperative complications,
and adds significantly to the cost. The management of air leaks is primarily preventive and
therefore starts in the operating room with surgical techniques that can minimize the
occurrence of post-operative air leaks, such as the creation of pleural tents or use of
suture line glues or sealants. Notwithstanding some patients will after a lung resection
have PAL. Any minimal invasive method that helps to increase our ability to treat (reduce
and/or stop) the air leak in these latest cases carries an enormous clinical as well as
cost-saving potential. Bronchoscopic occlusion of a segmental or subsegmental bronchus using
endobronchial valves is such a less invasive method which has shown in case reports to
interrupt an air leak.