Thoracic surgery: single-port video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy

Single-port video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has been increasingly applied in clinical settings in the past two years along with the improvements in both endoscopic instruments and surgical skills. Our center began to perform single-port VATS lobectomy in May 2014 and had performed this procedure in 121 patients till January 2015. The surgical incision (3.5-4.5 cm in length) was created in the 4(th) or 5(th) intercostal space at the anterior axillary line at the diseased side. The operator standed at the abdominal side of the patient and operated using the endoscopic instruments only. The surgical steps of single-port VATS lobectomy were same as those of the triple-port VATS lobectomy. There was no fixed mode in handling the three major structures of the pulmonary lobes, and the resection sequence can be scheduled based on the development status of pulmonary fissures and on the difficulties in dissecting the relevant structures. We believe the single-port VATS lobectomy is a safe and feasible procedure and warrants further clinical applications after finishing these surgeries.