OR / Prep · Thoracic Surgery · laparoscopic
You’re scrubbing into
VATS lobectomy
Why are we operating?
An anatomical lobe of lung removed through ports: artery, vein and bronchus each isolated and divided, nodes cleared, cancer out inside a bag.
Indication: Early-stage lung cancer with adequate lung function; the fitness assessment is half the decision.
The operation in 4 steps
01Lung isolation and access
02Hilar dissection
03Dividing vein, artery, bronchus
04Nodes, retrieval, drain
Watch it done
VATS lobectomy illustrated
A thoracic surgeon's illustrated walk through port placement, the fissure, the vessels and the bronchus.
Source: Shanda Blackmon for the Society of Thoracic Surgeons · Watch on YouTubeSTS University: VATS lobectomy
The society's own course video on the operation.
Source: Society of Thoracic Surgeons · Watch on YouTube
Conceptual teaching for learners preparing to observe and assist under supervision, not operative instructions. Five minutes from now you should know why this operation exists, what its shape is, and which structures it is designed not to injure.