Objective To compare the safety and efficacy of thulium laser wedge resection of the lung under uniportal thoracoscopy with the other two traditional surgical methods (mechanical cutting stapler wedge resection and segmentectomy) in the treatment of small pulmonary nodules.MethodsClinical data of 125 patients with small pulmonary nodules receiving uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery from December 2017 to December 2018 in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 33 patients had thulium laser wedge resection (a thulium laser group), including 10 males and 23 females, with an average age of 59.21±11.31 years; 48 patients had mechanical stapling pulmonary wedge resection (a mechanical stapling pulmonary wedge resection group), including 17 males and 31 females, with an average age of 57.27±11.30 years; and 44 patients had pulmonary segmentectomy (a pulmonary segmentectomy group), including 21 males and 23 females, with an average age of 63.00±9.68 years. The surgical margin air leakage, operation time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative hospital stay, drainage days, average daily drainage volume, fever, pain and hospitalization expenses were compared among the three groups. ResultsThe body mass index, gender, smoking history, benign and malignant pathological results, average maximum diameter of lesions and lesion location distribution were not statistically different among the three groups (P>0.05). The average age and the proportion of pleural adhesions in the thulium laser group were not statistically different from those of the other two groups (P>0.05). In the distribution of the number of lesions, the proportion of multiple lesions in the mechanical stapling pulmonary wedge resection group was higher than that of the other two groups, and there was no statistical difference between the other two groups. The intraoperative blood loss in the thulium laser group was less than that of the other two groups (P≤0.05). There was no statistical difference in the classification of surgical margin air leakage or the operation time among the three groups (P>0.05). The proportion of postoperative fever and hospitalization expenses in the thulium laser group were lower or less than those of the other two groups (P<0.05). The length of hospitalization stay and postoperative chest tube placement in the thulium laser group was significantly shorter than that of the pulmonary segmentectomy group (P<0.05), which was not statistically different from the mechanical stapling pulmonary wedge resection group (P>0.05). There was no statistical difference in the average daily drainage volume or the proportion of pain among the three groups (P>0.05). Conclusion The thulium laser wedge resection under uniportal thoracoscopy is a safe, effective and economical method for the treatment of small pulmonary nodules.