The learning curve on uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery: An analysis of proficiency

Minimally invasive techniques for lung cancer surgery have revolutionized thoracic surgery, and single-port approaches are becoming increasingly used. We analyzed our experience with uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for lobectomy to identify the number of procedures necessary to achieve proficiency according to clinical outcomes.

We queried our institutional prospective database for all single-port lobectomies in patients with early-stage lung cancer performed by a single surgeon from 2014 to 2017; 274 patients met the inclusion criteria. Using cubic splines, we derived 3 distinct learning phases based on the length of the procedure. Blood loss, additional port insertion, and conversion to thoracotomy were also compared according to these learning phases.

The initial phase (procedures 1-60) had the longest procedure times and the most variability in procedure length (158.8 ± 52.2 minutes) compared with the transition phase (procedures 61-140; 145.9 ± 43.8 minutes) and the proficient phase (procedures 141-274; 117.9 ± 32.6 minutes, P < .001). Blood loss (156 mL vs 130.4 mL vs 64.9 mL, P = .003), conversion rate to thoracotomy (11.7% vs 3.8% vs 0.7%, P = .001), and need for a second incision (8.3% vs 5% vs 0.7%, P = .025) were all highest during the initial phase. In a multivariable model, there was a significant interaction between procedure number and learning phase (P = .003), indicating that the effect of each additional procedure on procedure length differed in each phase.

In this analysis, a distinct learning curve for uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery lobectomy was observed. Procedure time decreased sharply at approximately the 60th procedure, but 80 additional lobectomies were required to master the approach.