A recurrent empyema with peripheral bronchopleural fistulas treated by retrograde bronchial sealing with Gore Tex plugs: a case report

Bronchopleural fistulae (BPF) are communications between the bronchial tree and the pleural spaces. This anomaly is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, and its management in some patients remains a major therapeutic challenge for clinicians. Here we report a case involving a 62-year-old man with chronic empyema associated with multiple BPF caused by severe necrotizing pneumonia with parapneumonic effusion in the left lower lobe. His BPF were treated by decortication and retrograde surgical sealing with Gore-Tex plugs that were sutured to the parenchyma and bronchus and reinforced by glue and an intercostal muscle flap. The air leakage stopped immediately after surgery and the chronic empyema resolved. His subsequent postoperative course was uneventful, and he was discharged 14 days after surgery. At the 8-month follow-up visit, stable surgical outcomes with no BPF recurrence were observed. In summary, we described a novel and easy surgical technique for the repair of intractable peripheral BPF in select patients.