Minimal-invasive thoracic surgery in pediatric patients

Abstract

During the last two decades, there was a tremendous development of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), especially in the field of video-assisted lung resections. This article describes the actually state of this surgical technique in the treatment of pediatric patients. The problems in practical application are illustrated as well as clinical results, like they are presented in literature.

Video assisted thoracoscopic surgery in paediatric mediastinal tumors

“…Adult studies have shown that VATS is associated with a well described learning curve ( 84 ). The existence of a similar learning curve is seen in paediatric patients ( 78 , 85 ). As the number of cases are fewer in case of children so gathering experience takes longer and so is the training.…”

“…However, in infants and smaller children paediatric VATS demands very small calibre instruments which may not be easily available. Due to lower incidence of cases and technical and structural problems there is a slower progress in achieving experience in VATS even among purely paediatric centres ( 78 ). This leads to scarcity of adequate training facilities when compared with adults.…”