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Updated: Mar 23, 2026
Thoracoscopic Extended Right Middle Plus Lower Sleeve Lobectomy for Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer
Published on: February 27, 2026
Nonintubated uniportal thoracoscopic surgery for resection of lung lesions
Wan-Ting Hung1, Hsao-Hsun Hsu1, Ming-Hui Hung1
11 Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, 2 Department of Anesthesiology, 3 Department of Nursing, 4 Department of Traumatology, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
Background:
Sporadic case reports have shown that wedge resection and lobectomy can be performed via nonintubated video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) with a single incision. We report the feasibility and safety of nonintubated uniportal VATS for resection of various lung lesions.
Methods:
From January 2014 to June 2015, we retrospectively reviewed the records of 116 consecutive patients who underwent nonintubated uniportal VATS for diagnosis or treatment of lung lesions. We used a combination of intrathoracic intercostal nerve block, vagal block, and target-controlled sedation to maintain adequate anesthesia without tracheal intubation. Computed tomography (CT)-guided dye localization and anchoring sutures were applied to facilitate single-incision VATS.
Results:
Of the 116 patients, 76 (66%) presented with ground-glass nodules on preoperative CT imaging. Overall, 125 nodules were identified on CT in the 116 patients. Most lesions were less than 10 mm in size (77/125, 62%). About two-thirds of patients underwent CT-guided dye localization of the lesions before uniportal VATS. A wedge resection with or without lymphadenectomy was performed in 107 (92%) patients, segmentectomy with lymphadenectomy, in 7 (6%), and lobectomy with lymphadenectomy, in 2 (2%) patients. Five of the 116 (4.3%) patients underwent conversion to multiport VATS, and one (0.9%) patient underwent conversion to endotracheal-intubated multiport VATS. Four (3.4%) patients had operative complications including air leakage for more than 3 days, bleeding, and pneumonia. Postoperative pain was mild. The median postoperative hospital stay was 3 days. The major pathological diagnoses of the 129 resected lesions were primary lung adenocarcinoma in 82 (64%), with predominantly stage IA disease (79/82, 96%), followed by benign tumors (18/129, 14%), metastatic tumors (17/129, 13%), pre-invasive lesions of lung (8/129, 6%), lymphoma (2/129, 1.6%), and interstitial lung disease (2/129, 1.6%).
Conclusions:
Nonintubated uniportal VATS is technically feasible, effective, and safe for diagnosis and treatment of various lung lesions in selected patients.
