Table 3. Details of port placement, incision, and chest tube.
| Variables | Before IPTW adjustment | After IPTW adjustment | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RATS (n=20) | VATS (n=37) | P value | RATS (n=20) | VATS (n=37) | P value | ||
| No. of ports | <0.001 | <0.001 | |||||
| 1–3 | 2 (10.0) | 33 (89.2) | 12.2 | 92.5 | |||
| 4–6 | 18 (90.0) | 4 (10.8) | 87.8 | 7.5 | |||
| Assistant port | 19 (95.0) | 26 (70.3) | 0.041 | 96.8 | 74.6 | 0.003 | |
| Mini-thoracotomy | 7 (35.0) | 35 (94.6) | <0.001 | 31.9 | 93.6 | <0.001 | |
| Max incision (mm) | 12 (8 to 40) | 35 (11 to 45) | <0.001 | 12 (8 to 40) | 35 (11 to 45) | <0.001 | |
| Max port incision (mm) | 12 (8 to 12) | 15 (11 to 20) | <0.001 | 12 (8 to 12) | 15 (11 to 20) | <0.001 | |
| No. of intercostal spaces | <0.001 | <0.001 | |||||
| <4 | 6 (30.0) | 34 (91.9) | 26.8 | 92.5 | |||
| 4–6 | 14 (70.0) | 3 (8.1) | 73.2 | 7.5 | |||
| No. of chest tubes | 1.000 | 0.504 | |||||
| 1 | 20 | 36 (97.3) | 100.0 | 95.9 | |||
| 2 | 0 | 1 (2.7) | 0 | 4.1 | |||
Continuous data are presented as the median and interquartile range in brackets, and categorical data are presented as n (%) before IPTW adjustment, while as only % after IPTW adjustment. IPTW, inverse probability of treatment weighting; RATS, robot-assisted thoracoscopic surgery; VATS, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.