Minimally invasive segmentectomies in primary and metastatic lung tumors: a 5-year single-center experience

Objective. To analyze early and delayed postoperative outcomes after segmentectomies for lung tumors and solitary pulmonary metastases. Material ans methods. A retrospective analysis included 100 patients who underwent anatomical lung resection for primary or metastatic tumors. The Fisher’s exact test was used for statistical analysis, and differences were significant at p<0.05. Results. A total of 100 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (n=67), neuroendocrine tumors (n=16), other tumors (n=3) and solitary pulmonary metastasis (n=14) were included between years 2021 and 2025. Of these, 89 underwent thoracoscopic segmentectomy, 11 — robot-assisted segmentectomy. The overall complication rate was 23%, and the most common complications were prolonged air leakage through the drainage (>4 days, 10%) and pneumonia (5%). Serious complications (Clavien-Dindo ≥IIIa) were detected in 7% of patients. Statistical analysis found no significant differences in complication rates between groups of primary and metastatic tumors (p=0.73). Median disease-free period for primary tumors was 12 months. The one-year and two-year disease-free survival rates for stage I were 92% and 93.7%, for stage II — 50% and 50%, for stage III — 80% and 100%, respectively. No local recurrences were detected throughout the follow-up period. Conclusion. Minimally invasive segmentectomy does not compromise early postoperative outcomes in primary and metastatic lung tumors, as well as demonstrates high effectiveness regarding disease-free survival in primary lung tumors.