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Review
. 2016 Sep 1:2:149.
doi: 10.21037/jovs.2016.08.07. eCollection 2016.

Single port video-assisted thoracoscopic thymectomy

Benedetta Bedetti  1 , Pierfiorgio Solli  2 , David Lawrence  1 , Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos  1 , Martin Hayward  1 , Marco Scarci  1
Affiliations
Review

Single port video-assisted thoracoscopic thymectomy

Benedetta Bedetti et al. J Vis Surg. .

Abstract

Over the past decade, video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) has started to replace median sternotomy for the resection of non-invasive anterior mediastinal masses, including thymoma. In fact, many studies confirmed that, compared to standard sternotomy, VATS thymectomy results in less post-operative pain, better preserved pulmonary function, improved cosmesis (which can be particularly important to many young female myasthenia gravis patients) and is oncologically feasible for non-invasive thymomas as long as en bloc resection of the tumour is achieved. Classically three ports are used, but the current trend is to reduce the number of ports and minimize the length of incisions to further decrease postoperative pain, chest wall paraesthesia, and length of hospitalization. Uniportal VATS thymectomy for non-invasive mediastinal tumour resection is proven to be a safe and reliable method. In this paper we describe and illustrate our technique for single port VATS thymectomy.

Keywords: Single port minimally invasive surgery; VATS thymectomy; mediastinal tumours.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Position of the patient on the operating table.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Single incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) port device.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Introduction of the single incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) port device (9). Available online: http://www.asvide.com/articles/1121
Figure 4
Figure 4
Uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) thymectomy (10). Available online: http://www.asvide.com/articles/1122
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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