[Structural evaluation of the remaining lung after partial pulmonary resection by the stapling device].

The stapling device can excise the lung parenchyma without causing bleeding or air leak, while it causes shrinkage of the remaining lung. So, the stapling is thought to make the local pleura fragile due to excessive tension around the stump. However, little has been proven regarding these issues by experimental study. We evaluated morphologies in the remaining lung of pigs just after and 2 months after partial lung resection with stapler. As a result, the remaining lungs recovered their size to fill the thoracic cage in 2 months. Interestingly, the visceral pleura of the remaining lungs extended almost equally regardless of the distance from the stump, without causing bullous degradation. The alveoli proximal to the stump had higher alveolar density, shorter linear intercept, thicker alveolar wall than the ones distal to the stump just after resection, however, these differences were not found 2 months postoperatively. In summary, although lung excision by stapler results in shrinkage of the remaining lung temporally, it was found that the remaining lung recovered its size without adverse morphological change.