[Thoracoscopic use of staplers. New possibilities for minimally invasive diagnosis and therapy]

Thoracoscopic resection of peripheral lung tissue is possible by using special staplers (Endo-GIA). Main indications for using this technique are the treatment of a spontaneous pneumothorax by resection of bullous lung areas (15 patients) and the excision of macro biopsies for diagnostic reasons (13 patients). It is reported about the technique and the early outcome of these 28 thoracoscopically performed lung resections. This way minimally invasive procedure is combined with well-established surgical technique.