Robot-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery: Pros and Cons

Abstract

Purpose of Review In the last two decades, minimally invasive approaches for thoracic surgery have become the major challenge in the field of thoracic surgery. These techniques became preferable over open surgery (thoracotomy) in terms of reducing pain and having aesthetic advantages. However, patient selection is one of the most important factors for minimally invasive surgery because of related limitations and insufficiency of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). Recent Findings Robot-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (RATS) has been developed to overcome the limitations of VATS. Better flexibility and transmission the surgeon's convenient manoeuvrability in the thoracic cavity are some of the advantages of robotic surgery. Summary This paper focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of RATS in comparison to that of VATS and thoracotomy.