Prolonged air leak after robotic lung resection: a narrative review

Abstract

Background and Objective: Prolonged air leak (PAL) following lung resection is related to an increase in morbidity and both direct and indirect costs. In recent years, robotic-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS) has proved to be a safe technique with comparable perioperative outcomes of video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS), optimal oncological results, and potential advantages in case of sublobar resection. We here focus on the incidence and clinical impact of PAL in the field of robotic surgery and discuss the therapeutic strategies currently available.Methods: We conducted a search on PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus database from inception until May 27 th 2022 to select the relevant literature published in English exploring the occurrence of PAL following RATS.