1 research outputs found
Wider implications of video-assisted thoracic surgery versus open approach for lung metastasectomy
Lung metastasectomy is considered a safe and potentially curative procedure
despite there is not a strong evidence that metastasectomy prolongs long-term survival in
patients with lung metastases. Moreover, the debate is open regarding the best approach for
lung metastasectomy, video-assisted thoracic surgery versus open approach. A systematic
review of literature to clarify what is the best approach to prolong survival in patients with
lung metastases was performed. Our study confirms that overall survival is equivalent for
video-assisted thoracic surgery and thoracotomy, therefore the ‘gold standard’ surgical
treatment for lung metastases remains a point of debate. The choice of the surgical approach
still depends more on the single center or surgeon practice than on strong scientific evidence.
A prospective randomized trial could clarify the question