Impact of thoracoscopic segmental lung resection versus wedge on early post-operative recovery and short-term prognosis in elderly patients with early non-small cell lung cancer: A retrospective non-randomised controlled cohort study

Abstract Introduction: The post-operative rehabilitation and prognostic indexes of thoracoscopic segmental resection and wedge resection in the treatment of early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were retrospectively analysed. The objective of this study was to provide a theoretical basis for the treatment of early-stage NSCLC in the elderly. Patients and Methods: One hundred and twenty elderly patients diagnosed with early-stage NSCLC in our hospital from January 2018 to December 2021 were selected as study subjects. The patients were divided into the thoracoscopic segmental lung resection group and the thoracoscopic wedge resection group. Various clinical data were compared between the two groups of patients. Results: In the thoracoscopic wedge resection group, operation time, anaesthesia time, intraoperative blood loss, post-operative chest tube volume, chest tube indwelling time and hospital stay were significantly higher compared to the thoracoscopic segmental lung resection group. Patients undergoing segmental resection also had higher Visual Analogue Scale scores and serum indices. In addition, the mini–mental state examination scores were lower in the segmental resection group compared to the wedge resection group. Conclusions: Thoracoscopic segmental resection and thoracoscopic wedge resection were both safe and feasible for the treatment of NSCLC. However, thoracoscopic segmental resection had the advantage of effectively reducing the amount of intraoperative bleeding, shortening the operation time and having less impact on lung function and physical function. This was conducive to the patient’s faster recovery after surgery.