Lung Cancer Surgery Made Easy via Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery

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(January 19th, 2010)

Lee County, New York - Lung Cancer patients no longer have to dread about foot-long surgical incisions (cuts into the chest), month long recoveries, and all the pain & opportunity costs associated with surgery. For lung cancer patients who are now diagnosed with malignant tumors, specially trained surgeons can make a couple of small cuts into the chest and remove damaged lung tissues using a tiny video screen with an open camera, to help them guide through the patient's chest and towards the malignant tumors. This process is called Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS). The camera that surgeons use is known as a thorascope. A thorascope is a minimally invasive surgical fiber-optic camera that is passed on to near the lungs to help surgeons see where the tumor lies in the lungs. It is inserted into the chest via an incision and transmits images of the interior of the chest and outputs it to a video monitor located in the surgeon's office. This video monitor output helps the surgeon guide his incision tools into the chest so as to reach out to where the tumor is. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery replaces traditional thoracotomy which requires a larger incision into the chest and also results in a greater amount of pain.

Dr. Paul DiGiorgi, a Specialist in VATS who works with the Gulf Coast Cardiothoracic Surgeons and graduated from New York University Take a look at the image on the side to get an understanding of how thorascopic lobectomy works. A stapler is inserted into the chest wall that also houses a video thorascope. The images are transmitted from this thorascope into a video monitor output that helps the surgeon guide his instruments.

To summarize, here's how a thorascopic lobectomy operations works:

i) 3 small incisions are created between the ribs that allow a video thorascope to be inserted near the chest as well as a stapler (surgical equipment).

ii) Next, the lobe where the tumor lives is removed. Surgeons make sure that these tissues are removed so that the tumor does not develop again.

iii) Finally the surgeon will extract lymph glands from the chest in order to make an acccurate lung cancer staging.

The # of surgeons practicing VATS is minimal, thus the cost of such a surgery is expensive. Also, because of the invasiveness of the surgery and complications in carrying it out, some older and fragile patients are disqualified from it. Dr. Paul DiGiorgi, a Specialist in VATS who works with the Gulf Coast Cardiothoracic Surgeons and graduated from New York University quotes, "The incision in your chest is one of the most painful you can get." He adds, "I do surgery with a scope, no rib spreading, no muscle cutting. With the scope inside the chest, you can drive the camera anywhere you want to see. You see magnified detail of each corner of the chest. I feel it's much better than trying to look in with your eyes."

However, still 90% of all lung cancer patients are eligible for VATs. It is estimated that 215,000 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer in 2010 out of which 162,000 will die from it. It is hoped that Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery will help to reduce the # of diagnosis of lung cancers, as well as the rates of mortality.