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Thoracoscopic-assisted pulmonary resection in lung cancer
L M Proot1, B R Dillemans, J A De Letter
1Department of General, Thoraco-Vascular and Pediatric Surgery, Bruges, Belgium.
Background:
Thoracoscopic-assisted pulmonary resection for lung cancer is controversial. The appropriateness of this approach has to be compared with the golden standard of an open resection.
Methods:
This study consists of 66 patients with a clinical stage 1 disease. A thoracoscopic exploration was executed in 41 patients. Only in 16 cases was a thoracoscopic resection finally possible. The clinical and pathological TNM classification, the histological types and the surgical procedure are reported. The reasons for conversion are documented.
Results:
To investigate the appropriateness of the thoracoscopic approach we evaluated only the pathologically proven stage 1 disease in both groups. Postoperative complications, hospital stay and survival are compared.
Conclusion:
Until now we can conclude that there is no adverse effect on survival because of the thoracoscopic approach.