[Short history of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery]

In 1910, laparoscopy was applied in the cautery division of pleural adhesions for the first time for cavity pulmonary tuberculosis patients, which was the beginning of thoracoscopic surgery. After 1945, with the introduction of antituberculosis drugs like streptomycin and isoniazid, thoracoscopic surgery faded out. In the 1980s, success of video-assisted laparoscopic surgery in cholecystectomy created a basis for thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). In 1986, micro endoscopic technique was applied in thoracoscopy. In the 1990s, VATS was used in diagnosis and treatment of many kinds of diseases, such as palmar hyperhidrosis, pleural diseases, lung diseases, esophageal diseases and cardiac surgery. With the development of VATS, its application range became wider and wider. In some medical centers, VATS represents 80% of thoracic surgeries.