Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 20, 2026
Robotic-assisted Left Pneumonectomy For Vanishing Lung Syndrome
Published on: January 23, 2026
Needlescopic-assisted uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic pulmonary anatomical segmentectomy
Shun-Mao Yang1, Wen-Ting Wu1, Yu-Hsuan Liu1
1Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital, Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu City, Taiwan.
Background:
Pulmonary segmentectomy can be an oncologic equivalent of lobectomy for small non-small cell lung cancer. Uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has recently showed favorable surgical outcomes, but remains technical demanding, especially in a complex procedure like anatomic segmentectomy. This manuscript demonstrates the surgical techniques for uniportal VATS segmentectomies with the assistance of additional needlescopic instruments.
Methods:
Data of 22 consecutive patients who underwent 24 needlescopic-assisted uniportal VATS segmentectomies between December 2016 and June 2017 was analyzed.
Results:
There were 12 uni-segmentectomies, 10 bi-segmentectomies, and 2 tri-segmentectomies. The mean operation time was 178.3 minutes. The mean duration of chest tube drainage was 5.2 days, and the mean duration of hospital stay was 7.4 days. There were two episodes of major bleeding and one case that required conversion to lobectomy.
Conclusions:
Under the assistance of additional needlescopic instruments, segmentectomy can be performed more easily and safely with uniportal VATS.
