A comparison of three-port and four-port Da Vinci robot-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for lung cancer: a retrospective study

Background At present, research comparing the short-term postoperative outcomes of anatomical resection in lung cancer under different ports of da Vinci robot-assisted surgery is insufficient. This report aimed to compare the outcomes of three-port and four-port da Vinci robot-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for radical dissection of lung cancer. Methods 171 consecutive patients who presented to our hospital from January 2020 to October 2021 with non-small cell lung cancer and treated with da Vinci robot-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for radical resection of lung cancer were retrospectively collected and divided into the three-port group ( n = 97) and the four-port group ( n = 74). The general clinical data, perioperative data and life quality were individually compared between the two groups. Results All the 171 patients successfully underwent surgeries. Compared to the four-port group, the three-port group had comparable baseline characteristics in terms of age, sex, tumor location, tumor size, history of chronic disease, pathological type, and pathological staging. The three-port group also had shorter operation time, less intraoperative blood loss, lower chest tube drainage volume, shorter postoperative hospitalization stay durations, but showed no statistically significant difference ( P > 0.05). Postoperative 24, 48 and 72 h visual analogue scale pain scores were lower in the three-port group ( p < 0.001). No significant difference was observed between the two groups in the hospitalization costs ( P = 0.664), number or stations of total lymph node dissected ( p > 0.05) and postoperative respiratory complications ( P > 0.05). Conclusions The three-port robot-assisted thoracoscopic surgery is safe and effective and took better outcomes than the four-port robot-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in non-small cell lung cancer.