Video assisted thorascopic surgery is what Dr. Paul DiGorgi uses to remove small sections of a cancerous or diseased lung. The minimally invasive technology has been around for several years but has just recently been adapted to lung surgery.

He says, “I enjoy it because the patients do so much better the difference is really impressive. I mean you can see from the moment they wake up from surgery their breathing better and are in much less pain and they’re out of the hospital a lot faster and they just do much better.

Complication rates, especially pneumonia are half what they used to be because patients can take a deep breath now and they’re not splinting with a lot of pain.” The reduced pain and recovery time also means that more people will be able to qualify for lung surgery. “The biggest groups that have benefited from this are the younger, healthier people who want to get back to work quickly and the older, sicker patients who wouldn’t have been a surgical candidate in the first place,” says Dr. DiGorgi.

With the VATS lobectomy many patients are able to by-pass the intensive care unit and about 90% of them are able to get back to work within two weeks of the procedure. In many cases surgical lung re-section or lobectomy is often the best chance at a cure for patients with the early stages of lung cancer.