Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery gaining popularity in field of lung treatment

While lung surgery has traditionally been performed using open procedures, patients diagnosed with chest diseases have increasingly been opting for Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS), pulmonary experts said.

In a symposium hosted by the Lung Center of the Philippines last Thursday, experts highlighted the minimally invasive surgery that has dramatically enhanced the field of treatment and management when it came to lung diseases.

VATS primarily treats conditions such as cancer, pneumothorax, infection, cysts and other thoacic disorders. Compared to the the conventional open surgery that requires a large incision, and rib-spreading or breastbone-splitting, VATS requires only small incisions and the guidance of a high-resolution camera.

The camera is inserted through the incision, enabling doctors to see inside the chest, and giving them access to critical areas.

Patients who chose this procedure endured less pain and complications, showing reduced recovery time as opposed to the open thoracotomy surgery.

"Yung nag-oopen [surgery], pare-parehas halos yung numbers every year. Yung VATS is progressing in numbers," Dr. Camilo Pada from the Lung Center's Department of Surgery and Anesthesia said, estimating that there was around a 50% increase of VATS-treated patients from 2011 to 2012, and a 30% increase from 2013 to 2014.

"Through the years, pataas ng pataas yung paggawa ng VATS," he said.

The experts admit that most patients are initially hesitant when they are offered the VATS option.

"Palaging tinatanong ng pasyente: 'Is it available to me?', because their hurdle is the cost," explained Dr. Antonio Ramos, who also belongs to the Department of Surgery and Anesthesia. "When we started doing VATS, they just assumed that it was going to be more expensive."

The operation cost for open thoracotomy surgery is estimated to be P60,000-70,000 while VATS is priced at P100,000-120,000 per patient.

However, if patients were to look at the big picture, there is no significant difference in the cost between the two procedures, said the doctors.

Due to the faster recovery of the patients, their hospital stay and overall hospital cost is reduced. Patients are also able to return to work earlier, lessening their financial burden to their families and the state.

Dr. Ramos adds that even as the survival rate and complications rate of the two procedures are the same, VATS provide patients with a better quality of life.

"I hope that matatanggal na yung barrier na pag high tech na procedure, mahal," he said. "We're confident that it is very applicable to our setting."

"The news is not good news if you don't share it," he added. "That's why we're sharing it." — BM, GMA News