Lobectomy for early-stage lung carcinoma: a cost analysis of full thoracoscopy versus posterolateral thoracotomy.

Background Major pulmonary resections for early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are increasingly being performed by thoracoscopy, but there are economic concerns related to the use of many disposable items and increased operative time. We evaluated and compared the costs of thoracoscopic lobectomy versus open lobectomy.