European journal of cardio-thoracic surgery : official journal of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Oct 2013
Review Meta AnalysisLong-term survival in video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy vs open lobectomy in lung-cancer patients: a meta-analysis.
Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) lobectomy is an appealing alternative to open lobectomy via thoracotomy for non-small-cell lung cancer. However, there is no clear consensus in regard to the superior approach for long-term outcomes. The data are limited to small series, which precludes further clarification. ⋯ There was an advantage in long-term mortality for patients who underwent VATS vs patients who underwent thoracotomy (meta difference in survival: 5%; 95% CI: 3-6%) with large heterogeneity among studies (Q = 42.6; P-value: 0.001; I(2) = 55.7%). There was no evidence of publication bias. Compared with open lobectomy, VATS lobectomy appears to have improved long-term outcomes.