Abstract: Background and purpose: With the improvement of skill of video-assisted thoracic surgery, thoracoscopic anatomic segmentectomy becomes more and more mature. This paper aimed to study the safety, feasibility and clinical features of thoracoscopic anatomic segmentectomy for stage Ⅰ lung cancer. Methods: Data from 64 patients who was diagnosed as having clinical Ⅰ stage lung cancer and received thoracoscopic anatomic pulmonary segmentectomy were retrospectively analyzed from Mar. 2008 to Jan. 2014. There were 28 men and 36 women with a median age of 59 years (39-86 years). Results: Sixty-four patients underwent thoracoscopic anatomic segmentectomy successfully. The median operative time was 120 min (90-240 min). The median blood loss in operation was 50 mL (10-200 mL). The median thoracic drainage time was 3 d(2-7 d). The median postoperative length of stay was 5 d(3-23 d). There was no postoperative mortality or severe complications. There was one conversion to lobectomy but no conversion to thoracotomy. There were 51 patients with ground glass opacity (GGO). Of the 51 patients, postoperative pathology showed invasive adenocarcinoma in 30, adenocarcinoma in situ in 10, minimally invasive adenocarcinoma in 6 and benign lesions in 5. Conclusion: Thoracoscopic anatomic pulmonary segmentectomy is a feasible and safe technique for a skilled doctor. Not only can it be a method of diagnosis, but also it can be a method of treatment for clinical stage Ⅰ lung cancer, especially for GGO in lung.

Key words: Lung cancer, Thoracoscopy, Pulmonary segmentectomy