Purpose  
Although nonintubated thoracoscopic lobectomy has been considered a feasible technique for early stage lung cancer surgery, less investigated is long-term survival rates and tumor recurrence. The primary objective of this study was to use propensity score matching to compare outcomes after nonintubated and intubated approaches for clinical stage I non–small-cell lung cancer.   
Patients and Methods  
A retrospective data set including 165 nonintubated and 200 intubated lobectomy patients was used to identify matched nonintubated and intubated cohorts (n = 113 patients per group) using a propensity score matching algorithm that accounted for confounding effects of preoperative patient variables. Primary outcome variables included freedom from recurrence and overall survival. Factors affecting survival were assessed by Cox regression analysis and Kaplan-Meier estimates.   
Results  
There was no perioperative mortality in both groups. At an average follow-up of 3.3 years, comparing nonintubated thoracoscopic lobectomy with intubated procedure, no differences were noted in recurrence rates (15.0% v 14.2%, respectively; P = .58). Furthermore, no significant differences were noted in overall survival (98.2% v 97.3%, respectively; P = .44). Nonintubated thoracoscopic lobectomy was not found to be an independent predictor of recurrence (hazard ratio, 0.94; 95% confidence interval [C.I.], 0.47 to 1.89) or overall survival (hazard ratio, 0.40; 95% C.I., 0.06 to 2.69).   
Conclusion  
 In this propensity-matched comparison, nonintubated thoracoscopic lobectomy was not associated with an increased risk for recurrence and overall survival during the 3-year follow-up. These results will need further validation by randomized trials.

Recurrence and survival outcomes after nonintubated versus intubated thoracoscopic lobectomy for clinical stage I non-small cell lung cancer: a propensity-matched analysis