Long-term outcomes of video-assisted thoracic surgery lobectomy for nonsmall cell lung cancer

Although video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) lobectomy has been demonstrated to be safe and technically feasible for nonsmall cell lung cancer, it is infrequently performed in most hospitals. As a result, there has been no clear long-term outcome regarding this procedure until recently.

We retrospectively analyzed the results of patients suffering from lung cancer who underwent VATS lobectomy between March 1996 and December 2003. Perioperative data were collected and long-term outcomes were assessed by a 5-year census.

We successfully performed VATS procedures in 92 of 97 patients. The median operation time was 168 minutes and the median hospitalization period was 8.5 days. The median operative blood loss was 110 mL and the median drainage time was 3.3 days. The operative and postoperative (30-day) mortalities were 0% and 1.1%, respectively. The postoperative complications rate was 10.9%. The 5-year overall survival rates for stages I, II, and III or greater were 81.7%, 43.5%, and 22.2%, respectively.

VATS lobectomy is a safe and feasible surgical procedure for nonsmall cell lung cancer and gives the same long-term outcomes as conventional open lobectomy.