Objective  To analyze the safety and feasibility of uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy in treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

  Methods  Totally 96 NSCLC patients with thoracoscopic surgery were divided into uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery group (n=42) and triportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery group (n=54) according to surgical methods. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, the group of lymph node dissection, the number of lymph node dissection, the total drainage volume of thoracic duct at 3 days after operation, the time of extubation of thoracic duct, the postoperative hospital stay, the score of Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the incidence of postoperative complications were compared between the two groups.

  Results  The total drainage volume of thoracic duct at 3 days after operation, the time of extubation of thoracic duct, postoperative hospital stay and the VAS scores on the 1^st, 3^rd and 7^th day after operation in the uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery group were significantly lower than those in the triportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery group (P < 0.05).

  Conclusion  Uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy has the advantages of small trauma, high safety and mild postoperative pain, which is particularly suitable for patients with NSCLC in early stage.