Objective: To assess the outcome of minimal invasive surgery in terms of intra and post-operative complication, length of tube duration, hospital stay, and cost-effective in lung resection of Thai urban population that underwent video assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and open thoracotomy (OT).

Materials and Methods: The present study was a retrospective cohort between 2006 and 2019. One hundred seventy-eight patients underwent pulmonary resection. All patients were diagnosed either primary or secondary lung cancer. All medical records were collected at Vajira Hospital. All various factors were analyzed to evaluate an outcome between both groups.

Results: One hundred nineteen patients were performed by VATS, whereas 59 patients were performed by OT. Tube duration and length of hospital stay were shorter in VATS groups with five days versus seven days (p=0.001) and six days versus eleven days (p=0.001). The operative time was longer and more blood loss in OT groups compare to VATS groups with 180 minutes versus 70 minutes (p=0.001) and 100 mL versus 20 mL (p=0.001). In post-operative outcome, there was no difference in terms of arrhythmia, pneumonia, and 30 days mortality. However, there were slightly higher cost during hospital stay in VATS compared to OT at 3,329.9 USD versus 2,685.7 USD (p=0.001).

Conclusion: VATS is associated with shorter length of tube duration, hospital stay, and less blood loss with no difference of post-operative outcome in lung cancer patients.

Keywords: Video assisted thoracoscopic surgery; cancer; open thoracotomy

DOI: doi.org/10.35755/jmedassocthai.2021.06.12472

Received 16 February 2021 | Revised 20 April 2021 | Accepted 21 April 2021