Video-assisted thoracoscopic sleeve lobectomy

Although minimally invasive video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) lobectomy has proved to be equal and in some aspects superior to open lobectomy in T1 and T2 lung cancers, video-assisted thoracic sleeve lobectomy is not widely practiced. Reconstruction is one of the most problematic techniques in thoracic surgery. We present a case of a patient who underwent VATS right-sided sleeve lobectomy due to right lung cancer. Based on the preoperative examinations, our VATS technique consisted of four incisions: three ports and a 3-4 cm long utility incision without any kind of rib spreading. Total surgery time was 180 min and blood loss was 100 mL. The chest tube was removed on the 5th post-operative day and the patient was discharged home on the 10th postoperative day. The final histopathological examination confirmed squamous cell lung cancer (T2aN0M0 stage IB). In the authors’ opinion VATS right-sided sleeve lobectomy should be performed by a surgeon with adequate experience with this approach. Despite limited indications for VATS right-sided sleeve lobectomy, if the patients fulfill the sleeve lobectomy inclusion criteria in general, they may gain from all the advantages of minimally invasive techniques.