Abstract: Objective To summarize the application experience of Gore-Tex patch in clinical chest wall reconstruction. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed in 33 patients who underwent chest wall reconstruction using Gore-Tex patch from January 2001 to December 2010 in Shanghai Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University. There were 19 men and 14 women, ranging in age from 20 to 73 years with a median age of 45.7 years. The surgical strategies included choosing different incisions according to tumor location and size, and preserving normal chest wall soft tissue as much as possible during surgery. Gore-Tex patch was used to reconstruct the huge chest wall defect, and covered by transferred muscle flaps. Results All the 33 patients underwent surgical reconstruction successfully and there was no perioperative death. Complete tumor resection was performed in all the patients, including 25 patients with malignant tumor and 8 patients with benign tumor. The diameter of the resected tumors ranged from 8 to 20 cm. All the patients were followed up from 5 to 60 months, except that 3 patients (9.09%) were lost during follow-up. There was no rejection response, abnormal breathing and foreign body sensation during follow-up. The infection incidence was 3%(1/33). Conclusion Gore-Tex patch is a safe and effective material for chest wall reconstruction due to its excellent biocompatibility. Appropriate selection of muscle flap for covering Gore-Tex patch can reduce postoperative complications.
Citation: LI Chunguang,CHEN Hezhong,LI Zhigang,et al.. Application of Gore-Tex Patch in Chest Wall Reconstruction. Chinese Journal of Clinical Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, 2012, 19(3): 248-250. doi: Copy