Minimally invasive thoracic surgery, also known as VATS (Video-assisted Thoracic Surgery), performs lung surgeries without making large incisions or spreading apart the ribs. This approach results in less pain and faster recovery from lung surgery.

During the procedure, doctors insert long instruments with cameras attached to them through small incisions in your chest wall. This allows them to perform a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.

Less Risk of Complications

Your provider will move you to a regular hospital room after the operation. As you recover, your provider will instruct you to take care of your incisions and do breathing exercises to re-expand your lungs.

Unlike traditional surgery involving cutting through your breastbone or between your ribs, minimally invasive thoracic surgeries such as VATS or robotic-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (Uni-VATS) result in significantly less postoperative pain and a shorter hospital stay. Talk to your doctor about whether you are a candidate for this procedure. Whether it is appropriate for you depends on your medical history and the type of lung cancer.

Less Pain

Before the development of minimally invasive techniques in recent decades, lung and esophageal cancer surgery required open surgeries. These procedures involve making large incisions and spreading the ribs using retractors.

In contrast, during a minimally invasive surgery such as VATS, thoracic surgeons like Armen Parajian make small incisions in the chest, insert a camera, and wrists surgical instruments through these cuts. This results in less pain and a faster recovery than open surgery.

This approach is also associated with fewer complications like swelling in the lung (pulmonary edema), less postoperative pain, earlier weaning from a chest tube and shorter hospital length of stay. Patients generally spend just three or four days in the hospital, significantly less than the week typically spent recovering from a thoracotomy.

Faster Recovery

In addition to less pain, patients who undergo minimally invasive surgery have a shorter hospital stay and recover more quickly. They also experience fewer complications and less stress on their body’s immune system.

However, it is important to remember that recovery after thoracic surgery takes time. It is crucial to get adequate rest and eat well to stay healthy. Regular exercise, such as walking up and down stairs, can help you regain strength and energy.

Your thoracic surgeon will use long instruments inserted through small incisions in your chest to perform the procedure. These instruments include a thin tube with a video camera, called a thoracoscope, that shows the area being worked on. The video monitor helps the surgeon guide the thoracoscope to the correct location.

Less Scarring

Depending on the procedure, minimally invasive surgery may not leave any scars, or at least the spots will be less noticeable. This is due to the small incisions compared to those needed for traditional surgery.

Minimally invasive thoracic surgery is available for patients with lung cancer, pneumonia and other serious health issues. However, it’s important to note that this type of surgery is only suitable for some. Surgeons will decide whether you’re eligible for minimally invasive thoracic surgery on a case-by-case basis.

Traditionally, surgeons would need to make a large chest incision and spread or cut your ribs to access the thoracic cavity. With VATS, surgeons can now perform a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic thoracic surgeries without needing a thoracotomy.

More Accurate Results

Unlike traditional surgery, which requires large incisions to access the chest cavity, minimally invasive surgery allows surgeons to work through small incisions. Known as video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, or VATS, this technique uses a camera on the end of a tube to help visualize inside the chest and either specialized long instruments or a surgical robot to perform the procedure.

The key to a successful operation lies in the skill of the surgeon and the quality of the technology used. World-class thoracic surgeons have extensive experience with minimally invasive techniques and can provide patients with the most effective, advanced care.

Additionally, less-invasive techniques leave the patient with more normal anatomy and make it easier to perform any future procedures that may be necessary. This ease of surgery helps ensure better outcomes and a faster recovery.

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