Thoracoscopic surgery spontaneous pneumothorax and nodules of the lung

Indications and principles of the surgical procedure should be the same for endoscopic and open surgery. Those performing endoscopic surgery should be familiar with the corresponding open procedure, thus being capable to manage complications. Unbiased decision for endoscopic or open procedure might be compromised by lack of experience in one of them. Keeping this in mind, the trauma of surgical access for treatment of some diseases may be diminished by the thoracoscopic approach. There are only few established or almost established indications for thoracoscopic surgery. Since January 1990, we have gained some experience with spontaneous pneumothorax and nodules of the lung. Our patients have been followed-up carefully and the future results will have to be compared with those obtained by conventional surgery (thoracotomy). Our surgical technique and early results will be described in the following.