Cardiothoracic vascular surgeries
Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS)
VATS
VATS is a way to fix problems that's not very invasive. It uses cuts and a special tool called a thoracoscope to look inside and fix the fistula.
Procedure Overview:
The doctor gives the general anesthesia. They lie on their side.Small cuts are made in the chest three of them.
Then a camera, which is the thoracoscope is put in one of the cuts so the doctor can see the fistula.
The doctor finds the fistula. Closes it with thread, staples or some other material. Sometimes they use a piece of tissue or a patch to cover the hole.
After the operation the patient might have a tube in their chest to drain air or fluid. They usually get better faster than if they had surgery.
The good things, about VATS are:
It is minimally invasive so the scars are small it hurts less. The patient gets better quickly.The patient does not have to stay in the hospital for a time and there are fewer problems compared to open surgery.
The risks of VATS are:
It might not work for complicated fistulas.Sometimes the doctor cannot see well so they might have to switch to open surgery.
