The running of a thoracic surgery clinic in a state hospital: Two year experience in Şanliurfa State Hospital

Background: We aimed to analyze the running of a thoracic surgery department in a state hospital. Methods: The records of patients who had been operated between July-2006 and July-2008 in Thoracic Surgery Clinic of Şanli{dotless}urfa State Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Three-hundred-ninety operations were applied to 359 patients whose ages were between 8 months and 77 years. The most common diagnoses were 61 blunt chest trauma, 58 hydatid cyst, 46 spontaneous pneumothorax, 29 penetrant chest injury, 22 empyema, 21 foreign body aspiration, 12 bronchiectasis and 10 lung cancer. Of the operations 209 were under local anesthesia and 181 under general anesthesia. The most commonly tube thoracostomy (180 cases) under local anesthesia and 109 thoracotomy under general anesthesia were performed. Conclusion: The encountered most important problems during the active run are the lack of enough equipment and experienced auxiliary staff and, lack of knowledge about thoracic surgery by other clinicians. © 2012 Düzce Medical Journal.