Review
Video assisted thoracoscopic surgery
Serban C Stoica, William S Walker
Department of
Cardiothoracic Surgery, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Lauriston Place,
Edinburgh EH3 9YW, UK
Correspondence to: Mr Walker
Submitted 7 December
1999;
Accepted 10 February 2000
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
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Introduction |
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Video assisted thoracoscopy is now a well established technique in the armamentarium of the thoracic surgeon. Jacobaeus is credited with the technique of thoracoscopy and the first clinical application dates from 1913. He performed adhesiolysis to enhance pneumothorax therapy of tuberculosis via a cystoscope introduced into the pleural cavity. Before the 1990s thoracoscopic surgery was restricted to biopsy procedures, management of pneumothorax, empyema irrigation, sympathetic chain ablation, and removal of intrathoracic foreign bodies. The introduction of video imaging technology and the wider availability of stapling devices facilitated an increasingly wider use of thoracoscopy for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.
Video assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is principally employed in
the management of pulmonary, mediastinal, and pleural pathology.
However, the technique is not performed by thoracic and
gastrointestinal surgeons only. VATS is now becoming a useful adjunct
in specialised orthopaedic and neurosurgical units for minimally
invasive approaches to the spine; also, many of the
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