Comparison of treatment outcomes between single-port video-assisted thoracoscopic anatomic segmentectomy and lobectomy for non-small cell lung cancer of early-stage: a retrospective observational study

Background: There are few reports of single-port video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (S-VATS) anatomic segmentectomy and S-VATS lobectomy for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and no comparisons between them have yet been reported. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the safety and efficacy of S-VATS anatomic segmentectomy and S-VATS lobectomy for early-stage NSCLC. Methods: In this retrospective observational study, the outcomes of 79 consecutive patients who had undergone S-VATS anatomic segmentectomy (32 patients) or S-VATS lobectomy (47 patients) for early-stage NSCLC from April 2014 to June 2015 were examined. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, numbers of dissected lymph nodes and mediastinal nodal stations, numbers of staples used, postoperative drainage volume and duration, duration of hospital stay, costs, postoperative complications, local recurrence, and survival were compared between these two groups. Results: The postoperative drainage volume was smaller and the postoperative drainage duration shorter in the S-VATS segmentectomy than the lobectomy group (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in operation time, intraoperative blood loss, number of staples used, number and stations of dissected mediastinal lymph nodes, duration of hospital stay, costs, or postoperative complications. At the time of writing, no deaths or local recurrences had occurred in either group. Conclusions: S-VATS segmentectomy is as safe and effective as S-VATS lobectomy. Patients who undergo S-VATS segmentectomy seem to recover faster.