Robotic and Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery for Early-Stage Lung Cancer: Comparison of Long-Term Pain at a Single Centre

Backgrounds: Since the application of mini-invasive surgery to pulmonary lobectomy, various studies confirmed the feasibility and the safety of the technique, with equivalent oncological standards. However, there are no studies that compare long-term postoperative pain in minimally invasive thoracic surgery. Methods: Between 1 January 2019 and 28 February 2020, we analysed pain scores at 2 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after the operation, where 50 patients underwent a VATS lobectomy and 50 underwent a RATS lobectomy. Pain scores are obtained through a telephone questionnaire, according to a Numerical Rating Scale (NRS). Results: The medias of the NRS scores, at 2 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after the operation were similar in both groups. Group I was composed of 50 patients who underwent a video-assisted lobectomy, while Group II was composed of 50 patients who underwent a robotic-assisted lobectomy. Two weeks after surgery Group I had a NRS value of 2.96 and in Group II it was 2.86; three months after in Group I the value was 2.16 and in Group II it was 2.06; six months after Group I 's value was 1.62 and Group II's was 1.56; one year after in Group I the value was 1.30 and in the Group II was 1.24. For each time interval, no statistically significant differences were found (p > 0.05). Conclusions: In our analysis, RATS and VATS did not have significant differences in post-operative and long-term pain.