Robotic versus uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery for lung cancer

Abstract

During the last two decades minimally invasive surgery for early stage lung cancer replaced open approaches with advantages for patients (less pain, less complications, shorter hospital stay). A prospective randomized controlled trial by Bendixen et al . demonstrated significantly less pain and better quality of life (1). Despite many proven advantages in retrospective trials, randomized controlled trials are rare. To date, randomized controlled trials comparing robotic versus conventional or uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery are missing.