From west to east: video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in Day Surgery Center

According to literature, lung cancer is a leading cause of death and has high global morbidity rates. According to GLOBOCAN 2018 (an estimation of the Global Cancer Incidence and Mortality in 2018), released by the International Journal of Cancer, an estimated 18.1 million new cancer cases and 9.6 million cancer deaths were reported worldwide. Out of all new cancer cases reported till date, lung cancer cases comprise approximately 2.093 million cases. In addition, 1.761 million deaths have occurred due to lung cancer (1). According to research conducted by Maomao Cao and Wanqing Chen, the incidence and mortality rates of lung cancer are the highest among Chinese males and second highest among Chinese females (2). A similar situation exists in the United States (3). Due to the aging population and uneven distribution of medical care, hospitals in China, including the West China Hospital, are struggling to cope with the ever-increasing demands for surgical care. According to latest reports from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), hospitals in China have only 4.3 beds available for every 1,000 inhabitants [available at: https://data.oecd.org/healtheqt/hospital-beds.htm (date of access 1/22/2020)]. As compared to traditional elective surgery, the associated time and expenditure may be better balanced by day surgery