Objective: To evaluate the early outcome of patients who underwent video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) lobectomy for primary lung carcinoma.
Methods: The records of 121 patients with lung cancer undergoing VATS lung resection from 1997 to 2004 were reviewed retrospectively, I stage: 101 cases, 34 cases underwent right upper lobectomy, 13 cases underwent right middle lobectomy, 17 cases underwent right down lobectomy, 21 cases underwent left upper lobectomy, 16 cases underwent left down lobectomy. Thirty-eight cases underwent VATS lobectomy without assisted mini-incision.
Results: There were 18 cases of morbidities (15%) and no surgical mortality. The 1-year, 2-year and 3-year survival rates of primary non-small cell lung cancer with I stage is: 99% (76/77), 96% (49/51) and 79% (15/19), respectively. There are statistic difference (P < 0.01) between adenocarcinoma and the others. There are no statistic difference (P > 0.05) between the VATS lobectomy with assisted mini-incision (n = 38) and without (n = 63), also no statistic difference (P > 0.05) between the VATS lobectomy and the standard procedure.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that VATS lobectomy is superior regarding its ability to achieve the same survival rates and little morbidities in comparison with the standard procedure.