Easy suction technique during robot-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy.

In robot-assisted thoracic surgery, surgeons may encounter bleeding issues requiring compression techniques and time to achieve hemostasis. During this time, surgeons cannot use the robot arm and may require an assistant operating suction, increasing the cost of the procedure. Here, we describe an alternative suction device, Dobon (Senko Medical Instrument Mfg. Tokyo, Japan), which is usually used for pediatric cardiac surgery, for use in robot-assisted thoracic surgery. We present the technique of using the device in the procedure and comment on the advantages including decreased cost and improved surgical visual field.