Uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic bronchial sleeve lobectomy in five patients

Objective : To investigate the clinical efficacy and value of uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic bronchial sleeve lobectomy (BSL) in the treatment of central lung cancer. Methods : The clinical data of five patients who underwent uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic BSL at our hospital from October 2014 to September 2016 were retrospectively analyzed.  Results : The BSL procedure was successful in all five cases. The average operation time was 254 min, and the mean time to complete the anastomosis was 168 min. The average blood loss was 116 ml, and the mean number of lymph node dissections was 16.6/case. The average intubation time was 5 d, and the total postoperative drainage volume was 732 ml. The mean VAS score was 2.86, and the average postoperative hospital stay was 9.2 d. All patients were followed up for 3–19 months, and all of them survived without recurrence or metastasis. Conclusion : Uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic BSL was found to be safe, reliable, and minimally invasive. Keywords : lung cancer; bronchial sleeve lobectomy; video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery; anastomosis