Objective To compare the effects of uniport and multiport video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) approaches for the surgical resection of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the superior lobe of the right lung.

Methods Between October 2014 and October 2019, a total of 256 consecutive NSCLC patients who underwent VATS lobectomy in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Jingjiang People's Hospital were included. Propensity-matched analysis based on preoperative clinical features was used to compare the perioperative outcomes of patients in the two groups.

Results Of the 256 patients, 114 completed uVATS right upper lobectomy and 142 completed mVATS right upper lobectomy. One hundred patients in each group were included after propensity matching. There was no statistically significant difference in the lobectomy time (65.68±24.82min vs 70.34±13.58min, P=0.101), mediastinal lymph node dissection time (22.65±16.70min vs 18.64±13.31min, P=0.062), and intraoperative blood loss (230.38±136.64mL vs 285.14±165.47mL, P=0.15) between the uVATS and mVATS groups. And there was no statistically significant difference in the number of lymph node stations and postoperative hospital stay between the two groups. The postoperative thoracic drainage volume in the uVATS group was significantly lower than that in the mVATS group (mL vs mL, P=0.011).

Conclusions In comparison with conventional VATS, uVATS lobectomy is safer in the surgical resection of early NSCLC.