Minimally invasive surgery and robotic procedures for lung cancer

Common minimally invasive procedures

Endoscopy is a minimally invasive procedure used to diagnose and treat a variety of medical problems. During an endoscopy, your healthcare provider (HCP) places an endoscope, a long, thin probe, inside your body to look closely at the body part that needs to be examined.

These probes typically have a light and a camera on one end, and health care providers view a screen that shows what the camera is recording.

There are many different types of endoscopy, but they all work in the same basic way. A type of endoscope called a laparoscope may be used with surgical tools in a minimally invasive surgery called laparoscopy to look for problems in the stomach or pelvic area.

During laparoscopy, a laparoscope is inserted into the stomach through a small incision and images are displayed on a monitor for the doctor to view.

Robotic surgery is another minimally invasive surgery. It uses a high-definition (HD) camera that provides a close-up view of the area and a robotic arm with a small surgical tool on one end. It also has a control panel that looks like a video game controller. Surgeons perform surgery by manipulating a robotic arm, a type of surgical tool.

When are minimally invasive procedures used?

Although there are times when more traditional procedures are necessary, minimally invasive procedures can be used for a variety of medical problems throughout the body, including lung cancer and other medical problems that affect the lungs.

For example, your health care provider may do an endoscopy called bronchoscopy, which uses a probe to look inside the lungs and airways. This procedure may be used to detect lung cancer and determine its severity. Robotic bronchoscopy, performed with systems such as Ion and Monarch, uses a smaller probe and control panel controlled by a healthcare provider to precisely move the probe and reach locations within the lungs that traditional bronchoscopes cannot reach. A three-dimensional map of the lungs allows healthcare providers to direct the probe so they know exactly where it is and where it should go, and can guide the probe to hard-to-reach nodes for biopsy.

Minimally invasive procedures can also be used to treat lung cancer and other lung problems. Instead of the traditional method, which is an open-heart surgery called a thoracotomy, minimally invasive surgery uses smaller incisions and often has a shorter recovery period. In video-assisted thoracoscopy (CVT) surgery, which is commonly used for small, early-stage lung cancers, your doctor makes an incision in the chest and performs the surgery while viewing a video screen using a special tool with a camera and long handle.

Robotic surgical devices, such as the da Vinci Surgical System or the Mako System, allow doctors to use fully controlled robotic arms to treat more complex lung problems in a minimally invasive manner. Robotic surgery uses a video screen with high-definition three-dimensional images.

Advantages of minimally invasive procedures

Minimally invasive procedures require only very small incisions and are much gentler on the body, resulting in less pain for patients, shorter recovery times and smaller scars. Studies have also shown that robotic surgery is associated with better clinical outcomes than other types of minimally invasive surgery or open surgery during and after surgery. Benefits of robotic surgery include reduced need for blood transfusions, lower complication rates, shorter hospital stays, fewer hospital return visits after the procedure, and reduced mortality.

Surgery that places less strain on the body may be especially useful for people receiving cancer treatment. When your body doesn’t have to work as hard to recover from surgery, it can better handle the next steps in your treatment plan.

And this type of minimally invasive cancer treatment is becoming more and more common. A recent study led by Duke University School of Medicine that examined more than 76,000 lung cancer cases found that lung cancer surgery is becoming less invasive, especially for younger, healthier patients.

“This is a very encouraging finding for the entire community of professionals who care for patients with lung cancer,” Xiaofei Wang, MD, study author and professor at the Duke School of Medicine, said in a press release.

Check out your options

If you are dealing with the scary prospect of a lung cancer diagnosis or another medical problem, minimally invasive procedures may be a potential treatment option.

Talk to your health care provider to learn more about less invasive treatment options. We can outline your options and help you choose the one that best suits your unique needs.