The intersegmental plane: an emerging concern for the thoracoscopic surgeon

The profile of patients who are operated on for lung cancer is evolving. More and more ground glass opacities and early stage lung carcinomas are discovered, either because lung cancer screening programs are being set up or because patients or their physician ask more easily for a CT-scan than in the past. Until recently, many of these patients—when a non-small cell lung carcinoma (NCSLC) was suspected - underwent a lobectomy whatever the size and clinical stage of the tumor. Although the results of ongoing trials comparing survivals of lobectomy and sublobar resections (SLR) for early NSCLC are pending, most pulmonologists, oncologists and surgeons agree that many of these patients should rather have a SLR than a lobectomy.