A robotic fissureless right upper lobectomy using a posterior approach

Abstract

The fissureless technique in a lobectomy is considered useful to avoid postoperative prolonged air leak when a fissure is fused because it is not dissected. In particular, this technique has been used most frequently in right upper lobectomies because the dense fissure was most frequently found between the right upper and middle lobes. We believe that the surgical steps in this technique should be modified depending on the surgical approach, although the concept that the hilar structures, including the pulmonary vessels and bronchi, are each transected prior to division of a dense fissure is the same. We demonstrate a robotic right upper lobectomy with an explanation of the nuances of its performance. The operating time was 135 minutes with a blood loss of 50 ml. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful. We removed the chest tube on postoperative day 1, and the patient was discharged on postoperative day 3. The final pathology report was pT1bN0M0, stage 1A2, squamous cell carcinoma. These good perioperative results indicate the feasibility of this technique.

Keywords: Lung; Minimally invasive surgery.