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Ann Thorac Surg 2002;74:785
© 2002 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

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Review of recent books

Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS)

Edited by Todd L. Demmy, MD, Georgetown, TX, Landes Bioscience, 2001, 181 pp, illustrated, $45.00, ISBN: 1-57059-632-8

^a Rochester, Minnesota, USA

Advances in technology have allowed thoracoscopy to be a useful tool to diagnose and treat a variety of disorders that the thoracic surgeon encounters. Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS), a multiauthored, paperback, spiral-bound book edited by Todd Demmy, describes the current uses of VATS. It is part of a series entitled "Vademecum," which in Latin means "to carry along." This book is intended for house officers or physicians to carry along with them during their day-to-day management of patients. In the Preface, Dr Demmy states that "the purpose of the book is to provide a framework ... share helpful technical tips, assist operating room personnel preparing supplies, limit unnecessary costs, and define VATS limitations as well as its present role in the overall scheme of thoracic surgery."

The book accomplishes these goals and is an excellent review of video-assisted thoracic surgery. Since video-assisted thoracic surgery involves almost all of thoracic surgery, the book also serves as a good general review of almost all topics in thoracic surgery, including lung cancer, pleural disorders, esophageal disease, pediatric surgery, and traumatic injuries. Fortunately, the book does not have the usual defensiveness that is underlying some thoracoscopic information, because the authors do not religiously tout the perfection of thoracoscopy but rather carefully explain the controversial topics where VATS can and cannot be used.

The book begins with an overview of thoracoscopic procedures, including general positioning, equipment, anesthesia, and postoperative management that would be required for all thoracoscopic surgery. This chapter includes several useful tips and practical techniques about thoracoscopic surgery. Subsequent chapters discuss the use of VATS in specific disease processes, including pleural disease, diffuse lung disease, pulmonary nodules, and lung cancer. The esophageal sections include esophageal cancer diagnosis and treatment and a short chapter on minimally-invasive esophagectomy, as well as information on benign esophageal disease. Also included are miscellaneous topics, including trauma, mediastinal disease, neurologic and spinal surgery, pericardial disease, and pediatric surgery.

In general, each chapter is well written, although, as is usual in a textbook written by multiple authors, there are different styles and some chapters are a bit more inclusive than others. The chapter that discusses lung cancer management thoracoscopically has an excellent detailed description of how to perform a thoracoscopic lobectomy for each of the various lobes in the chest. This is an extremely helpful and well-written chapter.

One criticism of the book is that the illustrations and drawings are a bit simplistic. They are all black and white line drawings. Many of them are very redundant, showing the same skeleton and positions of thoracoscopic port sites. Hopefully, the quality of the illustrations would be upgraded in a future version of the text.

The Appendix has a comprehensive list of vendors for thoracoscopic instrumentation, including toll-free telephone numbers and internet addresses. This information would be extremely useful for anyone either beginning a thoracoscopic practice or wanting to expand their thoracoscopic practice with new technological instruments.

In summary, the text is an excellent review of thoracoscopic procedures. The book also provides a general overview of many of the topics in general thoracic surgery which is superficial but, nonetheless, appropriate since it is not intended to be an in-depth resource such as a major textbook of general thoracic surgery. The book would be useful for practicing physicians who have an active thoracoscopic practice. It would also be interesting and educational for residents and medical students to learn more about what is and what is not possible with thoracoscopy, as well as a discussion of some of the controversial aspects.

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Mark S. Allen Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Allen, M. S. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Allen, M. S.