Video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy for treating lung cancer.

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