Objective To explore the adjuvant treatment options for elderly patients or those with low cardiopulmonary function who cannot tolerate lobectomy for peripheral solid pathological stage ⅠA (pⅠA) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of patients with peripheral solid pⅠA stage NSCLC treated with lobectomy and compromised sublobar resection (CSR) in the Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, from 2018 to 2019. The incidence of postoperative complications and independent predictors of postoperative recurrence were analyzed. Patients in the CSR group were divided into a targeted therapy group, a chemotherapy group, and an observation group based on postoperative treatment measures. The 3-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) rate and 5-year overall survival (OS) rate of the three subgroups before and after propensity score matching (PSM) were compared. Results A total of 586 patients were included, including 288 (49.15%) males and 298 (50.85%) females, with a median age of 64.00 years. There were 335 patients of lobectomy and 251 patients of CSR. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of postoperative complications between the lobectomy group and CSR group [RR=0.987, 95%CI (0.898, 1.085), P=0.789]. Multivariate analysis showed that gender, tumor location, and size were independent risk factors for recurrence after CSR. After PSM, 17 patients were enrolled in each of the three subgroups of CSR. Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the 3-year RFS rate (P=0.115) and 5-year OS rate (P=0.101) between the targeted therapy group and chemotherapy group after PSM. The 3-year RFS rate and 5-year OS of the targeted group were significantly better than those of the observation group (P=0.041, P=0.009). Compared with lobectomy, there was no statistically significant difference in the 3-year RFS rate (P=0.069) and 5-year OS rate (P=0.540) in the targeted therapy group, while the chemotherapy group and observation group were significantly inferior to the lobectomy group (P<0.05). Conclusion CSR for treating stage pⅠA peripheral solid NSCLC in patients with advanced age or poor cardiopulmonary function does not increase the incidence of postoperative complications. Gender, tumor location, and size are independent risk factors for postoperative recurrence. In terms of 3-year RFS rate and 5-year OS rate, adjuvant targeted therapy after CSR is not only superior to observation but also not inferior to lobectomy.