Dr. Diego Gonzales Rivas stands for innovative surgical methods in lung cancer surgery like no other surgeon - the Spaniard has permanently evolved the minimally invasive removal of lung cancer with the so-called video-assisted thoracoscopy, short VATS, in his impressive career. With his latest innovations - surgical access via a single incision, without general anesthesia and without mechanical ventilation - he now has two patients together with the surgeons of the Department of Cardiothoracic, Transplantation and Vascular Surgery of the Hannover Medical School (MHH) to benefit. The two nearly 80-year-old women were each removed a lung lobe. "The two patients are doing extremely well, they have recovered through the gentle intervention at a rapid rate," explains Dr. med. Patrick Zardo, Head of the Department of Thoracic Surgery at the MHH. "Especially the combination of uniportal technique and simultaneous absence of mechanical ventilation are real milestones in thoracic surgery". According to the Spanish surgeon, the Hannover Medical School (MHH) is currently the only center in Germany to use this surgical method as standard.

An open lung operation used to require a 20- to 25-centimeter cut and often even the removal of a rib. Because many nerves were affected, patients often suffered from severe pain for weeks, and blood loss could lead to complications. With the VATS method, many operations on the lungs have already been made much gentler, but by default at least three cuts were still needed to insert the instruments and the camera into the body. The 44-year-old Spaniard has already revolutionized minimal-invasive technology with Uniport technology. The procedure with only local anesthesia and only a slight sedation is another milestone for the benefit of the patients. "They can usually be transferred to the normal ward on the same day and be discharged home after three to four days," explains Dr. Zardo. The pain and the risk of wound infection are significantly lower. Older patients especially benefit from the gentle method because they can be mobilized faster.

Dr. Diego Gonzalez Rivas learned the method of minimally invasive, video-assisted thoracic surgery at renowned clinics such as Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles and under Professor Thomas D'Amico at Duke Medical Center in North Carolina. He revolutionized the method with surgical access via a single incision and without general anesthesia. The spanish surgeon now heads the uniportal VATS training program at the world's largest thoracic center in Shanghai, and travels all over the world to train his colleagues in the use of the extremely gentle surgical technique.

Text: MHH / Presseabteilung

Picture: MHH