Thoracic surgery in Taiwan

Taiwanese surgeons have pioneered major advances in the field of minimally invasive thoracic surgery. Since the establishment of the Taiwan Association of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery [1986], the landscape of thoracic surgery has rapidly evolved from traditional thoracotomy to multi-port video-assisted thoracoscopic approaches. By early 21st century, further developments have included the single-port and subxiphoid techniques. This paper provides an overview of the Taiwanese thoracic surgery environment and its major accomplishments. With the increasing use of low-dose computed tomography for lung cancer screening, the detection of small pulmonary nodules has been growing steadily. High-end hybrid operating rooms comprising both imaging and surgical equipment are increasingly being applied in Taiwan as platforms for image-guided video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (iVATS). Recently, we described an iVATS workflow for simultaneous detection and removal of small pulmonary nodules which was entirely performed by thoracic surgeons. With respect to esophageal malignancies, the implementation of robot-assisted esophagectomy has been a significant milestone in Taiwan. This technique allowed conducting an extensive lymph node dissection along the bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve in a safe and effective manner. With 14 medical schools and 26 medical centers located on the island, Taiwan has been able to maintain a constant doctor-to-population ratio of 1-to-500. By partnering with the National Health Insurance and by taking advantage of state-of-the-art technologies, Taiwanese thoracic surgeons are continuously striving to deliver high-quality and cost-effective surgical care.