VALUE OF INTRAOPERATIVE INTRATHORACIC ULTRASONOGRAPHY DURING VIDEO-ASSISTED THORACOSCOPIC PULMONARY RESECTION

Recent advances in endoscopic surgical equipment, video monitoring, an d endoscopic surgical techniques have expanded the application of thor acoscopic surgery to pulmonary resection. One of the major limitations of this technique is the difficulty in identifying invisible pulmonar y nodules in which manual palpation is not possible. To resolve this p roblem, we employed intraoperative intrathoracic ultrasonography durin g video-assisted thoracoscopic pulmonary resection. We conclude that i ntraoperative ultrasonography during thoracoscopic pulmonary resection is useful to identify pulmonary nodules, except inflammatory lesions.