{"entity":{"id":"minimally-invasive-surgery","kind":"term","name":"Minimally invasive surgery (laparoscopic, robotic, VATS)","aka":["minimally invasive","minimally-invasive","VATS","video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery","robot-assisted","robotic surgery"],"tldr":"Any operation done through small incisions with cameras and long instruments, including robot-assisted surgery; the cancer operation is the same, the wound is smaller.","summary":"Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and robotic lobectomy, laparoscopic colectomy and gastrectomy, and robotic prostatectomy and hysterectomy all give equivalent cancer outcomes to open surgery with less pain, shorter stays and fewer wound complications. Exceptions exist (LACC in cervical cancer), so equivalence must be shown per cancer. Robots cost more without proven survival benefit but are now standard in urology and spreading to lung, oesophageal and pancreatic surgery.","asOf":"2026-09-09","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimally_invasive_procedure","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimally_invasive_procedure"}],"tags":[],"related":["staging-laparoscopy","lobectomy","prostatectomy"],"cancers":[],"sections":["surgery"],"technologies":["robotic-surgery"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"category":"Procedures"},"route":"/terms/minimally-invasive-surgery/","neighbours":{"term":[{"id":"hysterectomy","kind":"term","name":"Hysterectomy","route":"/terms/hysterectomy/"},{"id":"staging-laparoscopy","kind":"term","name":"Laparoscopy (keyhole surgery)","route":"/terms/staging-laparoscopy/"},{"id":"lobectomy","kind":"term","name":"Lobectomy","route":"/terms/lobectomy/"},{"id":"prostatectomy","kind":"term","name":"Radical prostatectomy","route":"/terms/prostatectomy/"},{"id":"sublobar-resection","kind":"term","name":"Sublobar resection (segmentectomy and wedge)","route":"/terms/sublobar-resection/"},{"id":"surgical-morbidity","kind":"term","name":"Surgical morbidity and postoperative complications","route":"/terms/surgical-morbidity/"}],"section":[{"id":"surgery","kind":"section","name":"Surgery & Interventional","route":"/fronts/surgery/"}],"technology":[{"id":"robotic-surgery","kind":"technology","name":"Robotic & minimally invasive surgery","route":"/technologies/robotic-surgery/"},{"id":"gallbladder-cancer-surgery","kind":"technology","name":"Surgery for gallbladder cancer: simple versus radical cholecystectomy, re-resection and lymphadenectomy","route":"/technologies/gallbladder-cancer-surgery/"}],"trial":[{"id":"calgb-140503","kind":"trial","name":"CALGB 140503 (Alliance)","route":"/trials/calgb-140503/"},{"id":"jcog0802","kind":"trial","name":"JCOG0802 / WJOG4607L","route":"/trials/jcog0802/"}],"cancer":[{"id":"early-cervical-cancer","kind":"cancer","name":"Early cervical cancer and fertility-sparing surgery","route":"/cancers/early-cervical-cancer/"},{"id":"lung-cancer","kind":"cancer","name":"Lung cancer (all types)","route":"/cancers/lung-cancer/"},{"id":"resectable-nsclc","kind":"cancer","name":"Resectable stage I to III non-small-cell lung cancer","route":"/cancers/resectable-nsclc/"}]}}