Uniportal Versus Triportal Thoracoscopic Lobectomy and Sublobectomy for Early Stage Lung Cancer

Overview

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. At present, surgical resection is still the standard treatment for early stage lung cancer. Triportal thoracoscopic lung resection is a routine surgically procedure for early stage lung cancer while uniportal thoracoscopic lung resection is developing rapidly in recent years. Although uniportal VATS pulmonary resection has been proven to be effective in preventing postoperative morbidities, there is still no ample evidences to demonstrate that uniportal VATS pulmonary resection is equal or superior to traditional triportal thoracoscopic pulmonary resection. The purpose of this multicenter randomized controlled trial study is to compare the uniportal VATS with traditional triportal VATS pulmonary resection in postoperative complications, long-term survival, lymph node dissection and local recurrence.

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world，especially in China, where the mortality ranked first in malignant tumors whether for males or females. At present, VATS (Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery) lobectomy is still the "gold standard" for the treatment of lung cancer. Triportal thoracoscopic lung resection is a routine surgically procedure for early stage lung cancer while uniportal thoracoscopic lung resection is developing rapidly in recent years. Retrospective study in recent years showed that the postoperative complication rate is similar between uniportal thoracoscopic surgery and triportal thoracoscopic surgery. Meanwhile, the incision is more pleasing, the inflammatory response may be milder and the hospitalization time may be shorter in the uniportal thoracoscopic surgery. But until now there is no result of the randomized controlled study on the effectiveness and the prognosis between uniportal thoracoscopic surgery and triportal thoracoscopic surgery to support this conclusion. The objective of this multicenter randomized controlled trial study is to compare the postoperative complications, long-term survival, local recurrence, other perioperative variables such as conversion rate, blood loss, lymph nodes retrieved and postoperative hospital stay between the triportal VATS pulmonary resection and uniportal VATS pulmonary resection on early stage lung cancer.