Robotic Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery (RVATS) Lobectomy

What is robotic video-assisted lobectomy?

If you have lung cancer, you may need surgery to remove part of your lung. Each lung has components called lobes. Your right lung has three lobes, and your left lung has two. Surgery that removes a lobe is called a lobectomy.

In the past, the only way to do a lobectomy was to do an open chest surgery. This type of surgery has a long recovery period with no moving or lifting. Today, you have the option of a minimally invasive procedure like robotic video-assisted lobectomy.

What to expect from robotic video-assisted lobectomy

With video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS), your surgeon will make a few small cuts, called incisions, in your chest. The surgeon will insert a scope with a camera into one of the incisions. The other incisions are openings to perform surgery using tiny surgical tools.

A robotic lobectomy takes this one step further. The surgeon uses a control panel with a 3D viewing screen to guide a set of robotic arms, and these robotic arms perform your surgery. The tools on these robotic arms are very small and precise, and the movements are controlled and delicate.

A robotic video-assisted lobectomy can help the surgeon move around your bones and muscles even more carefully when removing the lung lobe that has a tumor. This precision can mean a quicker and easier recovery for you.