Pediatric pulmonary resections: indications, surgical approaches, and outcomes in a 15-year single-center experience

BACKGROUND: Pediatric pulmonary resections are performed for a wide spectrum of congenital, infectious, and neoplastic diseases; however, clinical outcomes and surgical approaches remain subjects of ongoing evaluation. AIMS: To evaluate the indications, surgical techniques, and clinical outcomes of pediatric pulmonary resections. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective, single-center case series. METHODS: Medical records of 41 pulmonary resection procedures performed in pediatric patients were reviewed retrospectively. Data on demographic characteristics, type of resection, laterality, pathological diagnoses, and postoperative outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS: Wedge resection was the most frequently performed procedure (75.6%), while bullous emphysema was the most common pathological diagnosis (51.2%). Of all resection procedures, 86.1% were associated with benign and 13.9% with malignant conditions. No major postoperative complications and no 90-day mortality were documented in the reviewed records. During follow-up, three patients died, all of whom had malignant diagnoses. CONCLUSION: In this retrospective single-center mixed-pathology case series, pediatric pulmonary resections were associated with favorable observed perioperative outcomes, with no documented major postoperative complications or 90-day mortality. Operative strategy was individualized according to lesion type, extent, and surgical feasibility, while follow-up deaths were confined to patients with malignant diagnoses.