 Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS), a new treatment option for cancer and other lung conditions, is now being offered at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.
Less invasive, faster recovery
VATS allows surgeons access to a patient’s chest cavity through three, small one-centimeter incisions. A long, thin fiber-optic camera is inserted and transmits images of the chest cavity onto a video monitor to guide the surgeon. Specialized surgical instruments are inserted into the chest for dissection. The VATS technique is performed without spreading or removing part of the ribs, causing less surgical trauma, resulting in a faster recovery. VATS can be used to obtain a biopsy to diagnose: diseases of the lining of the chest (pleura) disease in the substance of the lung (such as interstital lung disease, lung infection or inflammation) lung cancer
VATS lobectomy
Advanced VATS surgery can be used to remove larger portions of lung tissue to treat lung cancer. This is called a VATS lobectomy. Patients undergoing a VATS lobectomy, compared to an open lobectomy, where a large rib-spreading incision is used, tend to have many advantages, including: shorter hospital stay fewer post-operative complications faster return to normal activities less pain smaller incision, minimally invasive less likely to need a blood transfusion after surgery quicker access to post-operative chemotherapy, if needed
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