Positive-pressure ventilation attenuates subarachnoid-pleural fistula after thoracic spinal surgery: A report of two cases.

Dural tear and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage is known to be a complication of anterior thoracic spine surgery. If dural tear occurs on the ventral side of dura in combination with a pleural injury, it potentially becomes a subarachnoid-pleural fistula. The pressure gradient permits continuous flow of CSF from the subarachnoid space into the cavum thorax, resulting in an intractable subarachnoid-pleural fistula. We report two cases of successfully treated subarachnoid-pleural fistula using noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation (NPPV). Two patients, a 52-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman, underwent anterior thoracic spine surgery to treat thoracic myelopathy caused by spinal tumor and ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament. During surgery, dural tear and CSF leakage to the cavum thorax due to perforation of the dura was observed. We treated with polyglycolic acid sheet (Neovel We used the application of NPPV for 2 weeks in the first patient and 1 week in the second patient. In both of them, subarachnoid-pleural fistula was attenuated without apparent adverse events. NPPV is noninvasive and potentially useful therapy to attenuate subarachnoid-pleural fistula after thoracic spinal surgery.