Trainees Can Safely Learn Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery Lobectomy despite Limited Experience in Open Lobectomy

• Published in: Journal of chest surgery pp. 105 - 111
• Main Authors: 유우식, 정경영, 이창영, 이석기, 김도정
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 대한흉부외과학회 01.04.2015
• Subjects: 흉부외과학
• ISSN: 2765-1606; 2765-1614

Background: The aim of this study was to establish whether pulmonary lobectomy using video-assisted thoracicsurgery (VATS) can be safely performed by trainees with limited experience with open lobectomy. Methods: Datawere retrospectively collected from 251 patients who underwent VATS lobectomy at a single institution betweenOctober 2007 and April 2011. The surgical outcomes of the procedures that were performed by three trainee surgeonswere compared to the outcomes of procedures performed by a surgeon who had performed more than 150VATS lobectomies. The cumulative failure graph of each trainee was used for quality assessment and learningcurve analysis. Results: The surgery time, estimated blood loss, final pathologic stage, thoracotomy conversion rate,chest tube duration, duration of hospital stay, complication rate, and mortality rate were comparable between theexpert surgeon and each trainee. Cumulative failure graphs showed that the performance of each trainee was acceptableand that all trainees reached proficiency in performing VATS lobectomy after 40 cases. Conclusion: Thisstudy shows that trainees with limited experience with open lobectomy can safely learn to perform VATS lobectomyfor the treatment of lung cancer under expert supervision without compromising outcomes. KCI Citation Count: 1