Study examines use of video-assisted surgery for known, suspected lung cancer in VA

Bottom Line: A video-assisted thoracoscopic lung resection is a minimally invasive surgical procedure to remove part of a lung in patients with known or suspected lung cancer. This study used Veterans Affairs data for about 11,000 veterans who had lung resections from 2002 to 2015 to examine adoption of the procedure. There were 7,095 open lung resections and 3,909 video-assisted thorascopic resections. The proportion of video-assisted thorascopic lung resections increased from 15.6 percent in 2002 to 50.6 percent in 2015 across the entire Veterans Health Administration system but varied by VA region. A limitation of the study is its reliance on data not originally collected for research purposes.

Authors: Eric L. Grogan, M.D., M.P.H., Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, and coauthors

(doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2019.0035)

Editor’s Note: The article includes funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

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