Trial reportThe Annals of thoracic surgery2018
Thoracoscopic Surgery Versus Thoracotomy for Lung Cancer: Short-Term Outcomes of a Randomized Trial.
Trial report in The Annals of thoracic surgery, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01102517 (A Trial on Video-assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery and Axillary Thoracotomy for Resection of Early-stage Non-small Cell Lung Cancer), which is not on this map. Cited by 71 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Trial on Video-assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery and Axillary Thoracotomy for Resection of Early-stage Non-small Cell Lung Cancer
Who cites it
71 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 132 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative outcomes video-assisted thoracic surgery versus open thoracic surgery in pulmonary echinococcosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.General thoracic and cardiovascular surgery · 2025Pooled it
- Comparative Effectiveness of Surgical Approaches for Lung Cancer.The Journal of surgical research · 2021Pooled it
- Uniportal versus multiportal video-assisted thoracoscopic anatomical resection for NSCLC: a meta-analysis.Journal of cardiothoracic surgery · 2020Pooled it
- Defining the learning curve of robotic thoracic surgery: what does it take?Surgical endoscopy · 2019Pooled it
- Medico-economic impact of thoracoscopy versus thoracotomy in lung cancer: multicentre randomised controlled trial (Lungsco01).BMC health services research · 2023Trial
- Impact of video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy versus open lobectomy for lung cancer on recovery assessed using self-reported physical function: VIOLET RCT.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2022Trial
- A Cohort Study on the Comparison of Complications, Short-Term Efficacy, and Quality of Life between Thoracoscopic Surgery and Traditional Surgery in the Treatment of Rib Fractures.Contrast media & molecular imaging · 2022Trial
- Continuous Paravertebral Analgesia versus Continuous Epidural Analgesia after Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Lobectomy for Lung Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Annals of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery : official journal of the Association of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons of Asia · 2021Trial
- Review
- What comes next after establishing evidence for video-assisted thoracic surgery lobectomy in early-stage lung cancer?Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Article
- Impact of modern minimally invasive approaches on pulmonary resection outcomes: a narrative review.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Review
- The incision matters: survival evidence finally catches up with video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Article
- Perioperative Immunonutrition in Patients Undergoing Lung Cancer Surgery: Current Evidence and Future Perspectives.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Short-term outcomes of multi-arm uniportal robotic thoracic surgery versus uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for non-small cell lung cancer.Journal of robotic surgery · 2026Article
- Evaluation of lymph nodes in various surgical approaches for clinical N0 lung cancer: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.International journal of surgery (London, England) · 2026Article
- Predictors of Postoperative Pneumonia Following Anatomical Lung Resections in Thoracic Surgery.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Artificial pleural effusion-assisted intraoperative ultrasound for the localization of pulmonary tumors during video-assisted thoracic surgery.Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery · 2025Article
- Mini-Invasive Thoracic Surgery for Early-Stage Lung Cancer: Which Is the Surgeon's Best Approach for Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery?Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Ten-year survival outcomes of video-assisted thoracic surgeryTranslational lung cancer research · 2024Article
- Review
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 7 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSafety and short-term efficacy of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for early-stage non-small lung cancer (NSCLC) has been demonstrated by observational studies previously. However, these outcomes have never been verified by a large randomized controlled trial (RCT). The aim of our RCT was to confirm that VATS is not inferior or even superior to open operation for early-stage NSCLC in terms of short-term and oncologic efficacy.
methodsThe trial was undertaken at five tertiary hospitals. Patients aged between 18 and 75 years with clinically early-stage NSCLC were randomly assigned to the VATS and axillary thoracotomy groups. Lobectomy plus mediastinal lymph node dissection was standard surgical intervention. Because patients continue to be followed up for oncologic outcome, the short-term perioperative outcomes would be reported here.
resultsBetween 2008 and 2014, 508 patients were recruited and 425 were eligible for analyses (215 VATS and 210 axillary thoracotomy). Eight VATS procedures were converted to open operation intraoperatively (3.72%). Median operation time with VATS was significantly less than axillary thoracotomy (150 versus 166 minutes, p = 0.009). In addition, VATS was associated with less intraoperative blood loss (p = 0.001). There was no difference for postoperative pleural drainage, length of hospitalization, and rates of morbidity and mortality. Cancer residual margins were found in 1 patient with VATS and 5 with axillary thoracotomy (p = 0.128). The yield of lymph nodes from either surgical approach was similar (p = 0.389).
conclusionsOur study demonstrates that VATS lobectomy is safe and reliable to treat NSCLCs, and it may be superior to axillary thoracotomy for operation time and intraoperative blood loss. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01102517.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.