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Initial perioperative outcomes of robot-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy using a confronting setting

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Abstract

Purpose

Most robot-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (RATS) is performed from the vertical view. This study evaluates the initial outcomes of our novel confronting RATS technique, in which the patient was viewed horizontally, as in open thoracotomy.

Methods

We reviewed data on patients who underwent thoracoscopic lobectomy between January, 2019 and April, 2022. Perioperative outcomes were compared between RATS and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), using propensity-score matching.

Results

RATS and VATS were performed for 83 and 571 patients, respectively. After propensity-score matching, data on 81 patients from each of the two groups were retrieved. The operative time was significantly longer for RATS than for VATS (199 ± 44 min vs. 173 ± 37 min, p < 0.001). There was no mortality or conversion to thoracotomy in either of the groups. The rates of overall complications and prolonged air leak did not differ significantly between the groups. The serum creatine phosphokinase level on postoperative day 4 was higher after RATS than after VATS. The number of resected lymph nodes and the rates of nodal upstaging did not differ significantly between the groups.

Conclusion

The initial perioperative outcomes of RATS using the confronting settings were comparable to those of VATS.

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Data availability

The datasets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was not supported by a specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Thoracic Surgical Oncology, Cancer Institute Hospital of JFCR, 3-8-31 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo, 135-8550, Japan

    Junji Ichinose, Kohei Hashimoto, Yosuke Matsuura, Masayuki Nakao, Sakae Okumura & Mingyon Mun

Authors
  1. Junji Ichinose
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  2. Kohei Hashimoto
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  3. Yosuke Matsuura
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  4. Masayuki Nakao
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  5. Sakae Okumura
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  6. Mingyon Mun
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Contributions

JI: conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, visualization, and writing—original draft; KH, YM, MN, SO, and MM: data curation, methodology, resources, writing—review and editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Junji Ichinose.

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Ichinose, J., Hashimoto, K., Matsuura, Y. et al. Initial perioperative outcomes of robot-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy using a confronting setting. Surg Today 53, 1073–1080 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-023-02665-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-023-02665-1

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