Thoracoscopic-assisted lung lobectomy in the dog: report of two cases.

The benefits and application of thoracoscopy with selective ventilation, as an adjunct to thoracotomy, in facilitating pleural exploration and lung lobectomy in two dogs are presented. Similar thoracoscopic-assisted procedures are commonly used in human patients because there is better exposure and they are technically less demanding than thoracoscopy alone, while causing less postoperative morbidity than conventional thoracotomy. There are no previous reports of thoracoscopic-assisted surgery in the veterinary literature. In the cases described, thoracoscopic-assisted mini-thoracotomy was an effective, minimally-invasive approach for ipsilateral hemithorax exploration and lung lobectomy.