Ninety five patients with lung cancer who underwent a single lobectomy were studied. In these patients, 42 were underwent a video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) lobectomy with minithoracotomy (Va group), 43 were operated under a muscle sparing thoracotomy (Ms group) and 10 were operated under a posterolateral thoracotomy (P1 group). White blood cell (WBC) numbers, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and visual analogue scale (VAS) scores in Va group were significantly lower than those in P1 group until 3 or 7 postoperative day (POD). However, at 14 POD, there were no significant differences in these dates between these 2 groups. There were no significant differences in WBC numbers, CRP levels and VAS scores between Va and Ms groups. There were no significant differences in changing ratios of vital capacity and patient's satisfaction of surgery among these 3 groups. VATS lobectomy had several advantages over the conventional open surgery. However, those differences disappeared shortly and patient's satisfaction of surgery was not affected by surgical approaches.