Thoracoscopic resection of intrapulmonary nodules

  An intrapulmonary nodule is generally a dense shadow in the lung less than 2 to 3 centimeters in diameter. Many intrapulmonary diseases can manifest as intrapulmonary nodules. It can be a malignant intrapulmonary lesion such as early lung cancer and metastases, or a benign pulmonary lesion including inflammatory swelling fast, tuberculosis, inflammatory pseudotumor, pulmonary malformation tumor, and vascular disease.  Of the 887 cases of intrapulmonary nodules counted in the literature, 36% were analyzed for malignant lesions of which 8% were metastatic carcinomas. These nodules, generally less than 2 cm in diameter, may be early-stage lung cancer, benign lung tumors, or inflammatory masses in the lung, and their common feature is the difficulty of clinical diagnosis.  In the past, there were many methods to diagnose and treat intrapulmonary nodules, including chest radiography, CT, PET, CT or needle aspiration biopsy under ultrasound. However, these methods are very difficult to make correct diagnosis in actual clinical work due to various influences and limitations, and even opening the chest to obtain a definite diagnosis, and many people cannot get a definite diagnosis due to fear of opening the chest, which even delays the treatment of some early lung cancers.  Minimally invasive TV thoracoscopic surgery has its unique advantages in the diagnosis and treatment of intrapulmonary nodules, which can be clearly diagnosed by thoracoscopic excision of intrapulmonary nodules and intraoperative rapid frozen pathological examination. If the disease is benign, the operation is over, thus avoiding open-heart surgery. In the case of malignant disease, a small incision of a few centimeters can be added and radical resection of the tumor can be performed thoracoscopically. The effect of TV thoracoscopic surgery is basically the same as that of open surgery, and it is popular among patients and physicians because of the small trauma and quick recovery.