title: Single-port video-assisted thoracic surgery in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer: a propensity-matched comparative analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS)-assisted lobectomy is widely used to treat non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). There are no reports concerning the comparison between single-port VATS and two-port VATS in treating NSCLC. This study aimed to compare the perioperative and short-term follow-up results between these two methods for treating NSCLC.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective surgical evaluation of patients undergoing either single-port VATS or two-port VATS for NSCLC between January 2013 and June 2015 was conducted. The propensity score (PS) matching method was used to reduce selection bias by creating two groups. After generating the PSs, 1:1 ratio and nearest-neighbor score matching was completed. The primary outcome measures were surgical time, blood loss, drainage time, length of hospital stay, postoperative pain score and patient satisfaction score. The data were analyzed statistically with P<0.05 defined as statistically significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 143 patients who met the inclusion criteria, 66 (46.2%) were operated on using two-port VATS and 77 (53.8%) using single-port VATS. After 1-to-1 PS matching, 63 pairs were selected. Both groups were well balanced for age, gender, body mass index, pulmonary function, preoperative comorbidity, tumor size and tumor type. The single-port VATS group had less blood loss, less postoperative pain, and a higher satisfaction score than those in the two-port VATS group, with statistical significance. Postoperative complications occurred in 2 (2/63, 3.2%) patients in the single-port VATS group and 6 (6/63, 9.5%) patients in the two-port VATS group, not a significant difference. No deaths occurred during the follow-up period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A single-port VATS-assisted lobectomy is suggested to be safe and feasible for treating NSCLC. Compared with two-port VATS, single-port VATS has many advantages, including reduced blood loss, less postoperative pain and a higher satisfaction score.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Institute of Surgery Research, Daping Hospital, the Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China.
authors.forename: Fuqiang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Institute of Surgery Research, Daping Hospital, the Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China.
authors.forename: Shenglan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Institute of Surgery Research, Daping Hospital, the Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China.
authors.forename: Longyong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mei
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Institute of Surgery Research, Daping Hospital, the Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Institute of Surgery Research, Daping Hospital, the Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China.
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ma
keywords: Lobectomy; non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC); single incision; video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS)