Thoracoscopy is a medical procedure involving internal examination, biopsy and/or resection/drainage of disease or masses within the pleural cavity,[1] usually with video assistance.

[citation needed] Thoracoscopy was first performed by Sir Francis Cruise of the Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Dublin in conjunction with Dr Samuel Gordon in 1865.

[citation needed] Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is a surgical operation involving thoracoscopy, usually performed by a thoracic surgeon using general or local/regional anaesthesia with additional sedation as necessary.

Advances in direct optical visualization were quickly surpassed when video cameras were attached to the endoscopes.

The advent of endoscopic stapling was also a major advance so that complicated procedures such as pulmonary lobectomy could be performed safely.