VATS Lung Lobectomy

VATS lung lobectomy has been in clinical use in specialized veterinary centers for a number of years but its development remains hampered by the ability to provide the specialized anesthetic support and the challenges associated with techniques such as one-lung ventilation. Patient size and the lack of availability of pediatric or small patient-sized stapling devices is also a significant limitation. However, for veterinarians wishing to incorporate VATS lobectomy into their practices these are all hurdles that can be overcome and in the author’s practice, a significant proportion of pulmonary surgery, albeit not the majority, is now performed in a minimally invasive fashion.

The majority of VATS lobectomy procedures have been performed for management of primary lung neoplasia or metastatic lung disease.^1-4 However other indications for which the author has used VATS lobectomy include grass awn migration, pyothorax, spontaneous pneumothorax and pulmonary consolidation/pneumonia. In all cases strict case selection criteria need to be used in order to ensure a high success rate and avoid conversion to an open approach. For those centers where anesthetic support for one-lung ventilation is lacking or the patient is very small (<10kg) a thoracoscopic-assisted procedure is technically easier and may possess many of the same advantages.^5,6 [...]