When patients face lung cancer, the way they are managed during surgery is critical. Some patients undergo surgery while being intubated, which means a tube is placed in their airway to help them breathe. Other patients undergo a method called NIVATS, where they are not intubated and instead use spontaneous ventilation. This study looked at how these two methods compare for people with non-small cell lung cancer.
The data shows that patients who underwent the surgery without a breathing tube (NIVATS) had lower risks of death and lower risks of their cancer returning compared to those who were intubated. However, researchers noted that this benefit might be partly due to selection bias. This means doctors often choose the non-intubated method for patients who are already in better physical shape or have less severe tumors.
While the results suggest NIVATS is a safe and feasible option, the evidence is currently considered low certainty. Because many of the studies were not randomized, we cannot be certain if the surgery itself caused the better outcomes or if it was just the types of patients chosen for that specific method. More large-scale trials are needed to confirm these findings.
