Table 1.
Comparison of clinical characteristics and surgical outcomes between RATS and VATS
| Characteristics | RATS n = 295 | VATS n = 227 | p-value |
| Sex, Male (%) | 157 (53) | 123 (54) | 0.86 |
| Age, years | 71 [31–85] | 70 [35–88] | 0.62 |
| Body mass index | 22.8 [13.7–37.4] | 22.9 [15.0–34.4] | 0.54 |
| Brinkman index | 200 [0–4000] | 300 [0–3600] | 0.49 |
| %FEV1, % | 100.9 [49.8–151.5] | 95.7 [44.4–156.2] | 0.01 |
| Interstitial pneumonia (%) | 29 (10) | 13 (6) | 0.11 |
| Underlying disease, Lung cancer (%) | 280 (95) | 201 (89) | 0.01 |
| Maximum tumor size, mm | 22 [5–105] | 18 [2–61] | <0.01 |
| Surgical procedure, Lobectomy (%) | 253 (86) | 150 (66) | <0.01 |
| Lobe (%) Right Upper Right Middle Right Lower Left Upper Left Lower |
107 (36) 28 (10) 63 (21) 63 (21) 34 (12) |
59 (26) 14 (6) 59 (26) 55 (24) 40 (18) |
0.03 |
| Lobe fissure, clear (%) | 184 (62) | 147 (65) | 0.58 |
| Repair method of the air leak (%) Suture PGA sheet Fibrin glue |
74 (25) 106 (36) 46 (16) |
59 (26) 78 (34) 35 (15) |
0.84 0.78 1.00 |
| Intraoperative air leak (%) | 137 (46) | 109 (48) | 0.72 |
| Postoperative air leak (%) | 116 (39) | 72 (32) | 0.08 |
| Persistent air leak (%) | 31 (11) | 7 (3) | <0.01 |
| Postoperative drainage period, day | 2 [1–13] | 2 [1–18] | 0.02 |
| Postoperative hospital stay, day | 5 [3–54] | 5 [3–24] | 0.36 |
The numbers within the square brackets represent the [minimum-maximum] range.
The number within the parentheses represents the (%).
PGA: polyglycolic acid
RATS: robot-assisted thoracic surgery
VATS: video-assisted thoracic surgery
%FEV1: percent predicted Forced Expiratory Volume in one second