Feasibility and surgical outcomes of thoracoscopic surgery for spontaneous pneumothorax with scope manipulation performed by clinical engineers: a retrospective comparative study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility and surgical outcomes of thoracoscopic surgery for spontaneous pneumothorax (SP) with scope manipulation performed by clinical engineers (CEs) as the initial implementation of task shifting in thoracoscopic surgery at our institution. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed patients with SP who underwent thoracoscopic surgery between April 2023 and March 2026. Baseline characteristics and surgical outcomes were compared between procedures with scope manipulation performed by CEs and those with scope manipulation performed by surgeons. RESULTS: The CE group included 38 patients and the Surgeon group included 37 patients, with no statistically significant differences in baseline patient characteristics. There were also no statistically significant differences in operative time, blood loss, postoperative drainage duration, postoperative hospital stay, complication rate, and recurrence-free survival between the groups (operative time: 60.0 ± 22.9 vs. 56.4 ± 25.1 min, P = 0.52; blood loss: 10 [10-10] vs. 10 [10-10] mL, P = 0.15; postoperative drainage duration: 1.4 ± 1.1 vs. 1.2 ± 0.4 days, P = 0.19; postoperative hospital stay: 4.6 ± 5.2 vs. 2.9 ± 2.6 days, P = 0.09; complication rate: 13.2% vs. 5.4%, P = 0.43; recurrence-free survival: log-rank P = 0.24). CONCLUSIONS: Thoracoscopic surgery for SP appears feasible when scope manipulation is performed by CEs, with no statistically significant differences in the evaluated surgical outcomes between the CE and Surgeon groups.