A pulmonary ligament approach for portal robotic segmentectomy of the lateral and posterior basal segments: a case report

BACKGROUND: Thoracoscopic segmentectomy of the lateral and posterior basal segments is extremely technically challenging. Appropriate segmentectomy requires exposure and recognition of the branches of the bronchi and pulmonary vessels deep in the lung parenchyma. Although various approaches for these segmentectomies have been reported, the use of a pulmonary ligament approach is rational because it does not require any interlobar separation. Here, we report a successful case of portal robotic segmentectomy of the lateral and posterior basal segments through the pulmonary ligament approach. CASE PRESENTATION: A 60-year-old Japanese man with a history of low anterior resection for rectal cancer was referred to our department because of a lung nodule. His chest computed tomography revealed a 15-mm tumor in the left posterior basal bronchus. Robotic left S9–10 segmentectomy through the pulmonary ligament was performed with five-port incisions. CONCLUSIONS: An extremely technically challenging thoracoscopic segmentectomy of the lateral and posterior basal segments was performed through the pulmonary ligament using a robotic surgical system. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13256-021-02789-3.