Though generally safe, interventional radiology procedures for removing lung nodules such as video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) can prove challenging. Clinicians have, thus, turned to percutaneous hook wires, microcoils, and electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy, among other tools, to facilitate the procedure.
In the current study, Dr. Hussein Aoun, director of interventional radiology at Karmanos Cancer Center, and colleagues explored using CT to help radiologists mark lung nodules prior to surgery to increase intraoperative efficiency. The technique involved relying on CT guidance to inject roughly 4 mL to 6 mL of methylene blue dye near lung nodules, tagging them for surgical resection.
Radiologists at the institution performed CT-guided lung nodule localizations with this technique for 25 patients requiring thoracic surgery. Postprocedural CT scans confirmed that the lung nodules were appropriately marked.
Surgeons then performed either VATS or robotic-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS) on each of the patients, noting the enhanced visibility of the lung nodules due to the dye. All the nodules were adequately resected.
"Our [method is] an innovative and safe minimally invasive technique for lung nodule marking that assists thoracic surgeons during video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery and robotic-assisted thoracic surgery," Aoun told AuntMinnie.com. "It is very accurate and similar to and better than some of the other techniques."
