Utilities and placement skills of the incision protective sleeve in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS)

The incision protective sleeve can protect incisions and help to establish an operating port and thus has been widely applied in thoracic surgeries. However, its other utilities are often neglected. This article explores the additional functions and placement techniques of incision protective sleeves in video-assisted transthoracic surgery (VATS).

Operators with different surgical experience were divided into three groups: resident group, attending surgeon group, and professor group. Each group independently chose one of the four surgical maneuvers, and the incision protective sleeve was placed during the operation. Up to 200 operations were randomly selected in each group, and the patients' gender, age, incision site, incision length, the operator's experience, and the time and technique of incision protective sleeve placement were recorded. CT was performed to measure the thickness of chest wall and the width of intercostal spaces. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21.0 software package. Multivariate linear regression analysis was performed was performed for the time required for incision protective sleeve placement.

The operator's experience was inversely related to the time required for incision protective sleeve placement, width of intercostal spaces was negatively correlated with operative time, chest wall thickness and incision length were positively correlated with operative time. Among the maneuvers, incision protective sleeve placement skills were significant different.

The placement of the incision protective sleeve for VATS is affected by multiple factors, which are not only related to the patient's condition, chest wall thickness and intercostal space, but also closely related to the operator's experience and the manipulation adopted.