To assess the advantage, disadvantage and feasibility of small thoracotomy incision for intrathoracic operations. In 124 patients minimal thoracotomy incisions (MT) were made for infrathoracic surgery from July 1999 to June 2001. The operative approaches consisted of posterolateral incisions in 82 cases, axillary incisions in 17 cases, and anterolateral incision in 25 cases. The operations included 46 lobectomies, 8 pneumonectomies, 27 wedge resections, 13 mediastinum tumor resections, 13 bullae ligations with pleurodeses, 2 esophagectomy and esophagogastric anastomosis, 1 total gastrectomy and esophagojejunostomy, 9 explorations, and 5 other operations. There was no mortality or serious complication in this group. The patients had a faster recovery with less postoperative pain and better cosmetic result. Minimal thoracotomy incisions are safe and feasible approaches for intrathoracic surgery and worth recommending.

In this paper the authors submitted their experience in application of video assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) in 204 cases at the surgical clinic of the General Hospital of PLA (Oct.1992 Jun.2002). A retrospective analytic study was carried out to assess the value of VATS in terms of the diseases and the surgical anesthesia, operation modes, complications and result. A satisfying result in the group was obtained in each of the cases. There was no operative mortality or morbidity. The mean operation time was 110 minutes, the overall median duration of chest tube drainage was 2 days, and the mean hospitalization time was 9 days. The postoperative recovery was uneventful. As a minimally invasive surgical technique with very low morbidity, VATS is worth considering and has been established as a procedure of choice with exceptional results in various chest diseases. Our experience confirms the safety of VATS in both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Due to progress over the past several years, VATS is by now a standard surgical procedure in thoracic surgery, and has become an inseparable part of thoracic surgery. There are differences of opinion with regard to major pulmonary and esophageal resections for cancer, thus further clinical investigation deserves to be carried out.

Thoracoscopic esophagectomy is an alternative to open thoracotomy in treatment of esophageal carcinoma, but its role in esophageal surgery is still controversial. Between May 2000 and May 2002, 9 patients affected by esophageal carcinoma underwent esophagectomy with thoracoscopic dissection of the esophagus. Seven patients were male, 2 were female,and the mean age was 51 (range, 42～56) years.One patient had the carcinoma at cervical segment, 2 at upper third thoracic segment, 5 at middle third, and 1 at lower third.All tumors were squamous cell type and were below stage II.Thoracoscopy and cervical esophagogastrostomy were successfully performed in 8 patients except in one case, in whom conversion to thoracotomy was necessary because of extensive tumor invasion.Thoracoscopic dissection took an average of 70 (range,40～120) minutes and the mean operative time was 252(range,230～270) minutes. the mean operative blood loss was 250ml (range,150～400ml) and the mean number of thoracic lymph nodes harvested was 7(range,5～12).One patient experienced a cervical infection,which healed with conservative treatment.One patient had a temporary left recurrent nerve palsy that disappeared during the following 6 months.These initial data indicate that thoracoscopic esophagectomy is safe and feasible. The short term result of thoracoscopy is comparable with that of open thoracotomy, and the long term result and its role in esophageal surgery deserve further investigation.