Intraoperative complications of thoracoscopic surgery for mediastinal tumors

We report intraoperative complications of thoracoscopic surgery for mediastinal tumors. Forty cases of mediastinal tumor were undergone thoracoscopic surgery at the hospital from 1999 to 2002. The patient's ages ranged from 18 to 74 years old with a mean of 47.7. Location of these tumors were anteriormediastinal in 20 cases, middlemediastinal in 6 cases, posteriormediastinal in 11 cases, and superiormediastinal in 3 cases. Intraoperative complications were rupture of the cyst in 9 cases, bleeding over 150 ml in 5 cases, injury of lung caused by adhesiolysis in 5 cases, and injury of nerve in 3 cases. The mean operation time was 103.8 minutes. Postoperative hospital stay ranged from 2 to 22 days with a mean of 5.9 days. All are alive with no recurrences or postoperative complications.