Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 15, 2026
Subcostal Specimen Removal in Completely Portal Robotic Lobectomy
Published on: April 19, 2024
Racial disparity in in-hospital mortality after lobectomy for lung cancer
Meredith A Harrison1, Sarah E Hegarty2, Scott W Keith2
1Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, 1015 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.
Background:
Using data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, we investigated the impact of surgical approach and race on in-hospital mortality after lobectomy for lung cancer.
Methods:
Logistic regression was used to model odds ratios for in-hospital mortality related to surgical technique (thoracotomy vs video assisted thoracoscopic surgery [VATS]) and race using discharge data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2008 to 2011).
Results:
VATS lobectomies increased each year (25.9% to 39.2%, P = .001) in the 19,353 patients identified. A racial disparity was noted, with black patients being 66% more likely to die in the hospital (odds ratio 1.66, 95% confidence interval 1.17 to 2.37, P = .005). Excluding 2010 data suggests that there is evidence of benefit associated with VATS; however, no evidence of an association between race and in-hospital mortality exists.
Conclusions:
This study elucidates race-related mortality in lobectomy patients. Although racial disparities are present throughout health care, this finding emphasizes one of the challenges in using large databases to assess such disparities.
