Objective

The feasibility of thoracoscopy for viewing the chest cavity and performing lung biopsy of the right and left lobes were assessed in experimental dogs.

Materials & Methods

Either left or right hemithorax was viewed and lung biopsy of various lobes was performed in 10 mongrel dogs weighing 6-20 kilograms. A thoracoscope was introduced through a cannula inserted through a 1.5 cm incision at the 5^th or 6^th intercostals space, half way the distance between the vertebral column and sternum. The cranial, dorsal and caudal surfaces of the pleura, lobes of lung of each hemithorax and the mediastinum were examined. To biopsy, a second cannula was inserted at either the 4^th, 6^th or 7^th intercostal space with a prior incision at the costochondral junction and used for introduction of grasping forceps to grasp and pull out the tip of each lung lobe through the port externally. Then, the lung parenchyma was ligated with an endoloop and cut.

Results

Lung biopsy was successfully performed on the middle and caudal lobes of the right lungs in 5 dogs and on the caudal part of cranial lobe and caudal lobe of the left lungs in other 5 dogs. The samples were large pieces. No complication was observed for two weeks.

Conclusion

The video-assisted lung biopsy technique was a simple safe fast and less invasive technique and potentially used for clinical diagnosis