Evaluation of Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery for Pulmonary Metastases: A Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the evidence comparing video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) and open thoracotomy in the treatment of metastatic lung cancer using meta-analytical techniques. METHODS: A literature search was undertaken until July 2013 to identify the comparative studies evaluating disease-free survival rates and survival rates. The pooled odds ratios (OR) and the 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated with the fixed or random effect models. RESULTS: Six retrospective studies were included in our meta-analysis. These studies included a total of 546 patients: 235 patients were treated with VATS, and 311 patients were treated with open thoracotomy. The VATS and the thoracotomy did not demonstrate a significant difference in the 1-,3-,5-year survival rates and the 1-year disease-free survival rate. There were significant statistical differences between the 3-year disease free survival rate (p = 0.04), which favored open thoracotomy. CONCLUSIONS: The VATS approach is a safe and feasible treatment in terms of the survival rate for metastatic lung cancer compared with the thoracotomy. The 3-year disease-free survival rate in the VATS group is inferior to that of open thoracotomy. The VATS approach could not completely replace open thoracotomy.