VIDEO-ASSISTED THORACOSCOPIC LOBECTOMY FOR TREATING LUNG-CANCER

Our objective was to evaluate the usefulness and safety of video-assis ted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for performing pulmonary lobectomy in 11 patients with clinical NO stage I primary non-small-cell lung canc er compared with 11 patients who underwent a conventional thoracotomy. Treatment was switched to conventional thoracotomy in three VATS pati ents because of the involvement of interlobar nodes or incomplete loba r fissure. None of the eight VATS patients died or experienced serious complications during 12 months of follow-up. There were no significan t differences in the intraoperative blood loss, duration of operation, or duration of chest tube drainage between the VATS group and the sta ndard lobectomy group. We conclude that although VATS lobectomy appear s to be safe for use in managing patients with primary lung cancer, it does not seem to offer any advantages over standard lobectomy.