Current trends in thoracic surgery

Nagoya J Med Sci. 2020 May;82(2):161-174. doi: 10.18999/nagjms.82.2.161.

Abstract

Thoracic surgery has evolved drastically in recent years. Although thoracic surgeons mainly deal with tumorous lesion in the lungs, mediastinum, and pleura, they also perform lung transplantation surgery in patients with end-stage lung disease. Herein, we introduce various major current topics in thoracic surgery. Minimally invasive surgical procedures include robot-assisted thoracic surgery and uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery. Novel techniques for sublobar resection include virtual-assisted lung mapping, image-guided video-assisted thoracic surgery, and segmentectomy using indocyanine green. Three-dimensional (3D) computed tomography (CT) simulation consists of surgeon-friendly 3D-CT image analysis systems and new-generation, dynamic 3D-CT imaging systems. Updates in cadaveric lung transplantation include use of marginal donors, including donation after circulatory death, and ex vivo lung perfusion for such donors. Topics in living donor lobar lung transplantation include size matching, donor issues, and new surgical techniques. During routine clinical practice, thoracic surgeons encounter various pivotal topics related to thoracic surgery, which are described in this report.

Keywords: lung transplantation; robotic surgery; three-dimensional computed tomography; uniportal surgery; video-assisted thoracic surgery.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional
  • Living Donors*
  • Lung Neoplasms / surgery*
  • Lung Transplantation*
  • Mediastinal Neoplasms / surgery*
  • Organ Preservation
  • Pleural Neoplasms / surgery*
  • Pneumonectomy*
  • Robotic Surgical Procedures*
  • Surgery, Computer-Assisted
  • Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted*
  • Thoracic Surgical Procedures / trends*
  • Tissue and Organ Procurement / trends
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed