INTRODUCTION Thoracoscopic (VATS) lobectomy after a decade of criticism is nowadays considered as a technically feasible, safe and oncologically proper operation. This approach has some advantages over conventional thoracotomy like: less postoperative pain, shorter hospitalization, fewer postoperative complications, better tolerance of adjuvant chemotherapy with comparable long-term survival ra...

The current status of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) of the lung has been reviewed. The published data support the view that VATS pulmonary surgery is feasible and safe. It is associated with decreased perioperative pain and opiate requirement, better postoperative pulmonary function, and probable overall neutral cost impact. A VATS approach is functionally superior to open thoraco...

BACKGROUND Randomized trials comparing VATS lobectomy to open lobectomy are of small size. We analyzed a case-control series using propensity score-weighting to adjust for important covariates in order to compare the clinical outcomes of the two techniques. METHODS We compared patients undergoing lobectomy for clinical stage I lung cancer (NSCLC) by either VATS or open (THOR) methods. Inverse...

The development of video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) in the past decade has changed the way many pulmonary conditions are being treated. VATS has gained popularity among clinicians due to faster recovery following surgery, less postoperative pain and better cosmesis. It is well known that surgical trauma can induce a systemic inflammatory response and affect postoperative systemic immunity...

BACKGROUND The optimal treatment of empyema thoracis has been widely debated. Proponents of pleural drainage alone, drainage plus fibrinolytic therapy, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgical (VATS) debridement, and open thoracotomy each champion the efficacy of their approach. METHODS This study examines treatment of complex empyema thoracis between June 1, 1994, and April 30, 1997. Twenty-one...

This case report illustrates successful Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS) performed on a 45-year-old woman and 52-year-old man presenting with a mass in left and right paravertebral space on the CT scan respectively. VATS has many benefits over traditional open operation (thoracotomy), resulting in less pain and shorten recovery time. However, VATS has higher equipment cost but when an exp...

BACKGROUND Elderly patients with severe cardiopulmonary and other system dysfunctions are unable to tolerate pulmonary lobectomy. This study aimed to evaluate the risk and efficacy of wedge resection under video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) on elderly high-risk patients with stage I peripheral non-small-cell lung cancer (PNSCLC). METHODS Elderly patients (≥70 years) with suspected PN...

BACKGROUND Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) using a single incision (uniportal) may result in better pain control, earlier mobilization and shorter hospital stays. Here, we review the safety and efficiency of our initial experience with uniportal VATS and evaluate our learning curve. METHODS We conducted a retrospective review of uniportal VATS using a prospectively maintained depa...

BACKGROUND Hydatid disease is a severe and widespread human cestode infection, and in children, the lung is the most commonly infected organ. In current practice, the standard surgical procedure for the removal of pulmonary hydatid cysts is thoracotomy; therefore, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) to treat pediatric pulmonary hydatid disease. To...