Chylothorax after thoracoscopic extended thymectomy: a case report and literatures review

Surgical treatment with complete resection is the standard of care in the management of thymic tumors. Although minimally invasive surgery is not routinely recommended due to the lack of long-term oncologic data according to NCCN guideline, video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) technique has been proved to be promising alternative to open approach in the surgical treatment of early-stage thymoma by previous studies (1). Postoperative chylothorax can occur in every cardiothoracic surgical procedure, especially esophagectomy, but it is a rare complication accompanied by thoracoscopic extended thymectomy.