Drainless Uniportal VATS Wedge Resection for Early Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Propensity Analysis of the Effect of Polyglycolic Acid Sheet (NeoveilTM).

Objectives: Absorbable biomaterials as adjuvant therapy after thoracoscopy are sometimes used in clinical scenarios. With the prevalence of enhanced rapid recovery in thoracic surgery, drainless video-assisted thoracoscopy surgery (VATS) is often adopted by thoracic surgeons. Here, we discuss utilizing an absorbable biomaterial, Neoveil^TM (Polyglycolic Acid sheet), for drainless VATS to treat early lung cancer. Methods: This single-center retrospective study was conducted from January 2018 to December 2022 at the National Taiwan University Hospital. We included patients who underwent drainless VATS for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in our institute. Propensity analysis was used to minimize selection bias. Outcome measurements were in-hospital stay, operation time, rate of thoracocentesis or chest drain re-insertion, complication rate, and perioperative course. Results: During the study period, 158 lung cancer patients were performed with drainless VATS wedge resection. Among them, Neoveil for stapling line coverage was done in 72 patients, while 86 patients did not receive Neoveil. After propensity analysis, we had 58 patients using Neoveil after drainless thoracoscopic lung resection, compared fairly with 58 patients without Neoveil after the same procedure. The basic characteristics are comparable regarding age, gender, BMI, operation methods, and lung cancer stage after propensity matching. The in-hospital stay (3.2 days in the Neoveil group and 5.6 days in the non-Neoveil group) and operation time (95.7 min in the Neoveil group and 59.3 min in the non-Neoveil group) are significantly different (p = 0.0001). One versus four patients was noted for postoperative conversion chest drainage insertion in each group (p = 0.17). Neither late complications nor recurrence/metastasis occurred in both groups during the following. Conclusions: Based on our 5-year retrospective study, which is balanced with propensity analysis, drainless thoracoscopic surgery treating early lung cancer can be enhanced by Neoveil with faster recovery by reducing the hospital stay, though with longer operation time.