A Study into the Potential for Safe Application of Single-Incision Thoracoscopic Surgery in Various Thoracic Diseases

Abstract

Objective: Single-incision thoracoscopic surgery (SITS) is being applied to various thoracic diseases because it produces a smaller surgical scar, and is associated with less pain and loss of sensation compared to the traditional 3-port video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). In our previous study, we showed that SITS can be used as a first-line surgical method to treat primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Therefore in this study, we looked into whether SITS can be safely and conveniently applied to other various thoracic diseases. Methods: The subjects for this study those patients who underwent SITS at this hospital for thoracic diseases, who were admitted to this hospital between December 2013 and February 2015. Results: In this study, SITS was attempted in 50 patients with various thoracic diseases. In 46 cases, SITS was successfully performed. However, in the remaining 4 cases were converted to 2-port or 3-port VATS (8%, 4/50). The reasons for conversion to VATS was due to difficulty in approaching the lesion (n = 3) and severe pleural adhesion (n = 1). Conclusion: We found that SITS is a relatively easy and safe procedure that can be applied to various thoracic diseases. However, the operation may be difficult to perform depending on the location of the lesions or the extent of pleural adhesions. Therefore we recommend SITS in conditions where the lesion is mainly in the upper lobe, such as spontaneous pneumothorax, and in patients with minimal level of pleural adhesions.