Single-Port vs Conventional Three-Port Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Pulmonary Wedge Resection: Comparison of Postoperative Pain and Surgical Costs

Purpose: Single-port video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) pulmonary wedge resection was reported in 2004. We started using single-port VATS (SPVATS) pulmonary wedge resection in 2017 and compared results between conventional three-port VATS (VATS group) and SPVATS (SPVATS group). Methods: We identified 145 consecutive patients with VATS group and SPVATS group. Perioperative characteristics including pain and the number of stapler cartridges used were examined as the surgical outcomes, retrospectively. Results: In all, 66 cases of SPVATS group and 79 cases of VATS group pulmonary wedge resection were compared. The rate of epidural anesthesia (p