History of thoracoscopic surgery in Japan and the world

Purpose  The aim of this study was to review articles to learn how current thoracoscopic surgery was developed to the present status. Materials and methods  The Internet literature search engines PubMed and Index Medicus were used to search for the published articles. Interpretation of the articles was reflected in the reviewer’s personal experience, who was closely associated with the developmental history. Results  Altogether, 49 articles were selected and reviewed. Conclusions  A variety of applications of thoracoscopy have been developed. It remains the major surgical technique in thoracic surgery. This review was submitted at the invitation of the editorial committee.