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Updated: Apr 20, 2026
Author Spotlight: A Non-Intubated Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery with Multimodal Analgesia and Sevoflurane Inhalation Anesthesia
Published on: May 26, 2023
Changes in pulmonary function in lung cancer patients after video-assisted thoracic surgery
Se Joong Kim1, Yeon Joo Lee1, Jong Sun Park1
1Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
Background:
Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is widely performed in patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer. However, it is unknown whether VATS sublobar resection has advantages compared with VATS lobectomy in preserving pulmonary function.
Methods:
Three hundred patients with non-small cell lung cancer who underwent VATS were enrolled. Pulmonary function tests were performed three times: preoperatively, and at 3 and 12 months postoperatively. Pulmonary function was compared between the VATS lobectomy group (n = 227) and the VATS sublobar resection group (n = 73).
Results:
The VATS sublobar resection group had greater preserved pulmonary function than the VATS lobectomy group at 3 and 12 months postoperatively (p < 0.001). However, a VATS lobectomy of the right upper or right middle lobe revealed no difference in forced vital capacity (-1.21% versus -1.45%; p = 0.88) or the diffusion capacity of carbon monoxide (-3.99% versus -2.45%; p = 0.61) compared with VATS sublobar resection after 12 months. In those who underwent VATS of the right lower lobe, forced expiratory volume in 1 second (-8.60% versus -3.69%; p = 0.12) was not different between the two groups after 12 months. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery lobectomy of the left upper or left lower lobe resulted in lower pulmonary function than VATS sublobar resection (p < 0.05).
Conclusions:
Patients with non-small cell lung cancer who underwent VATS sublobar resection demonstrated greater pulmonary function than those who underwent VATS lobectomy. However, in right-side VATS lobectomy, some differences dissipated at 1 year.
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