Surgery of uncomplicated pulmonary hydatid cysts: Capitonnage or uncapitonnage?

PurposeThe aim of this study is to compare two methods of capitonnage and uncapitonnage in the surgery of uncomplicated pulmonary hydatid cysts.Methods502 patients with pulmonary hydatid cysts who were managed surgically were evaluated retrospectively from 1994 to 2007. The medical records and types of surgery of 234 patients with intact pulmonary hydatid cysts were collected. Patients were divided into two groups. Group 1 patients were operated using capitonnage and group 2 patients using uncapitonnage methods. Postoperative complications of two groups were compared.Results84 patients of group 1 with a mean age of 28.81 ± 9.37 years were operated using capitonnage method and 150 patients of group 2 with a mean age of 31.04 ± 8.62 years without capitonnage method. In the comparison of postoperative complications (pneumothorax, empyema and pneumonia) in two groups the results obtained from group 1 were significantly more advantageous over group 2 (P < 0.001). Total hospitalization time of group 1 was (5.2 ± 2.3) days and (5.9 ± 3.1) days for group 2 (P = 0.03). The duration of air leak was 2.1 ± 1.8 days for group 1, and 6.7 ± 3.5 days for group 2 (P < 0.001). There was significant statistical difference between two groups regarding the development of prolonged air leak and empyema. One and three cases of recurrence were observed in group 1 and group 2 respectively. There was no significant difference regarding the rate of disease recurrence between two groups. No mortality was reported in both groups.ConclusionWe conclude that the capitonnage method has more advantages in surgery of uncomplicated pulmonary hydatid cysts.