How is video-assisted thoracic surgery used in lung cancer?

Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) is used frequently to assist in the diagnosis, staging, and treatment of lung cancer. In addition to aiding in the diagnosis of pulmonary nodules, VATS can significantly reduce the morbidity associated with the traditional surgical removal of lung nodules.

Essentially, there are tubes and cameras placed between the ribs. That allows for small incisions rather than having large incisions. You’re less likely to have your ribs spread. It’s like a laproscopy, except for the chest. The camera is outside the body but the lens is over a foot long, between 3 and 5mm in diameter. Usually the camera is 5 to 10mm in size. There’s a little bit of an angle so you can turn the whole lens to get a different view. That expands the field of vision.