Thoracic surgical management of colorectal lung metastases: a questionnaire survey of members of the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery in great Britain and Ireland

Introduction

Distant metastases to liver and lung are not uncommon in colorectal cancer. Resection of metastases is accepted widely as the standard of care. However, there is no firm evidence base for this. This questionnaire survey was carried out to assess the current practice preferences of cardiothoracic surgeons in Great Britain and Ireland.

Methods

An online questionnaire survey was emailed to cardiothoracic surgeons in Great Britain and Ireland. The survey was live for 12 weeks. Responses were collated with SurveyMonkey^®.

Results

Overall, there were 75 respondents. The majority (83%) indicated thoracic surgery as a specialist interest. Almost all (99%) used thoracic computed tomography (CT) for staging; 70% added liver CT and 51% added pelvic CT. Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography was used by 86%. The most frequent indication for pulmonary resection (97%) was solitary lung metastasis without extrathoracic disease. Video assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) was used by 85%. In addition, thoracotomy was used by 96%. A third (33%) used radiofrequency ablation. Synchronous liver and lung resection was contraindicated for 83% of respondents. Over three-quarters (77%) thought that scientific equipoise exists presently for lung resection for colorectal lung metastases but only 21% supported a moratorium on this type of surgery until further evidence becomes available.

Conclusions

The results confirm that the majority of respondents use conventional cross-sectional imaging and either VATS or formal thoracotomy for resection. The results emphasise the continuing need for formal randomised trials to provide evidence of any survival benefit from pulmonary metastasectomy for colorectal lung metastases.