The international symposium on Uniportal VATS-Wetlab and Live Surgery is going to be held from 26 to 28 February, 2014 in A Coruña, Spain. As an academic platform dedicated to providing latest advances in thoracic surgery in collaboration with international authorities, Journal of Thoracic Disease has the pleasure of endorsing the symposium. This symposium can be followed online by readers of JTD on 26th (conferences) and 27th (live surgery) in the website: www.livethoracic.com.
Over the past two decades, video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) has revolutionized the way thoracic surgeons diagnose and treat lung diseases. The major advance in VATS procedures is related to the major pulmonary resections.
As our experience with VATS lobectomy has grown, we have gradually improved the technique for a less invasive approach. Consequently the greater the experience we gained, the more complex the cases we performed were, hence expanding the indications for single-incision thoracoscopic lobectomy.
Most of the surgeons perform the VATS approach to lobectomy via 3 to 4 incisions, but the surgery can be performed using only one incision with similar outcomes. Uniportal VATS approach for major pulmonary resections is an emergent minimally invasive technique developed by the thoracic team at Coruña university hospital.
The organization of a course carried out by professionals with a great deal of experience in uniportal video thoracoscopic surgery allows to the participants the opportunity of learning such technique with theoric sessions and live surgery.