The importance of endobag use with incision-protective devices in VATS lung resection: a preliminary study

OBJECTIVE: The advent of new techniques such as video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for the removal of lung segments leads to compression of the surgical specimen, with the possible dissemination of neoplastic cells. The sheer volume of surgeries performed using these techniques has caused many institutions to stop removing the surgical specimen using an endobag, even when retractors/protectors are used in the instrumentalization incision. This study aimed to collect data from patients undergoing lung resection by VATS and analyze the cytopathological results of the collected material. RESULTS: A total of 47 endobag fluid samples were collected from patients who underwent VATS. The surgical specimen was subjected to histopathological analysis, and all patients underwent pathological TNM staging. In the cytopathological analyses, only 2 (4.3%) specimens of endobag fluid aspirate were positive for neoplastic cells. In these two cases, the tumors were peripheral, both with diagnoses of moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma and with classifications of T1bN0M0 and T3N0M0. These results indicate that although there is a low incidence of tumor cells in endobag fluid, it is always better to perform surgery using all available protective measures to avoid tumor implantation in the thoracic cavity to the greatest extent possible.