[Video-assisted thoracic surgery : A global development]

More than 200 years ago the first attempts at thoracoscopy were made but only after its introduction 25 years ago has video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) experienced rapid progress. Due to worldwide cooperation and international networking tremendous progress of the technique was made by thoracic surgeons on all continents developing the technique into a less invasive operating procedure on the thorax. For patients this meant improvement in the quality of life and ultimately better survival rates following lung cancer surgery. The VATS procedures are nowadays the preferred method unless the size and extent of the tumor prohibits a minimally invasive procedure. New trends in VATS are ambulatory, drainless or uniportal VATS, the latter being possible because insufflation of carbon dioxide is not necessary, allowing manipulation with multiple instruments through one small incision. The other trend is robotic-assisted thoracic surgery. The benefits of the robotics are higher degrees of freedom for movement of the instruments. The development of VATS is nowadays a global one with North America and Asian countries being the most active protagonists, but European countries also play an important role in shaping the future of minimally invasive surgery. Modern media help to further promote the technique.