Masahiro Miyajima

About

Masahiro Miyajima is a leading thoracic surgeon whose research focuses on advancing minimally invasive surgical techniques for lung cancer and thymoma, with a particular emphasis on robot-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (RATS). His major contributions include rigorous comparisons of RATS versus video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), demonstrating through inverse probability of treatment weighting methods that RATS offers superior perioperative outcomes for thymoma. Miyajima has also pioneered safe surgical protocols, notably analyzing intraoperative complications in robot-assisted anatomical pulmonary resections and developing novel techniques like interlobar division using vessel-sealing systems. His work on lymph node dissection has shown that RATS achieves higher N-factor upstaging rates than VATS, improving staging accuracy. With his most-cited paper on robot-assisted versus VATS lung cancer surgery accumulating 27 citations, Miyajima’s impact is evident. He leads the Japanese RATS Interest Group (J-RATSIG), coordinating multi-institutional prospective studies that have critically evaluated postoperative pain outcomes, revealing nuanced advantages of uniportal VATS. His narrative reviews on robotic thymectomy further establish his authority in the field, making him a pivotal figure shaping the future of robotic thoracic surgery.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Robot-assisted vs. video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in lung cancer

   27 citations · 2022
2. 2
   Robot-assisted and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for thymoma: comparison of the perioperative outcomes using inverse probability of treatment weighting method

   16 citations · 2022
3. 3
   Causes and management of intraoperative complications in robot-assisted anatomical pulmonary resection for lung cancer

   10 citations · 2022
4. 4
   Interlobar division using vessel-sealing system in robot-assisted pulmonary lobectomy

   6 citations · 2022
5. 5
   Number of lymph nodes dissected and upstaging rate of the N factor in robot-assisted thoracic surgery versus video-assisted thoracic surgery for patients with cN0 primary lung cancer

   6 citations · 2022
6. 6
   Easy Suction Technique During Robotic-Assisted Thoracoscopic Lobectomy

   6 citations · 2021
7. 7
   A prospective multi-institutional study to verify the non-inferiority of postoperative pain in robot-assisted thoracic surgery in comparison with video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for lung cancer: The Japanese RATS interest group 01 (J-RATSIG 01)

   4 citations · 2024
8. 8
   Postoperative Pain Reduction and Clinical Value of Uniportal Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery: A Secondary Analysis of the J-RATSIG 01 Study

   3 citations · 2025
9. 9
   Relevance of robotic surgery for thymoma: a narrative review

   2 citations · 2024
10. 10
    Subcarinal Lymph Node Dissection in Solo Robot-assisted Thoracic Surgery

    2 citations · 2021

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links