Proot L M, Dillemans B R, De Letter J A, Vandelanotte M, Lanckneus M J
Department of General, Thoraco-Vascular and Pediatric Surgery, Bruges, Belgium.
Int Surg. 1996 Jul-Sep;81(3):248-51.
Thoracoscopic-assisted pulmonary resection for lung cancer is controversial. The appropriateness of this approach has to be compared with the golden standard of an open resection.
This study consists of 66 patients with a clinical stage 1 disease. A thoracoscopic exploration was executed in 41 patients. Only in 16 cases was a thoracoscopic resection finally possible. The clinical and pathological TNM classification, the histological types and the surgical procedure are reported. The reasons for conversion are documented.
To investigate the appropriateness of the thoracoscopic approach we evaluated only the pathologically proven stage 1 disease in both groups. Postoperative complications, hospital stay and survival are compared.
Until now we can conclude that there is no adverse effect on survival because of the thoracoscopic approach.
