Feasibility of non-intubated anesthesia and regional block for thoracoscopic surgery under spontaneous respiration: a prospective cohort study

Data about the feasibility and safety of thoracoscopic surgery under non-intubated anesthesia and regional block are limited. In this prospective study, 57 consecutive patients scheduled for thoracoscopic surgery were enrolled. Patients were sedated with dexmedetomidine and anesthetized with propofol and remifentanil. Ropivacaine was used for intercostal nerve and paravertebral block. Lidocaine was used for vagal block. The primary outcomes were mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), oxygen saturation, and end-tidal carbon dioxide partial pressure (ETCO2) at T0 (pre-anesthesia), T1 (immediately after laryngeal mask/nasopharyngeal airway placement), T2 (immediately after skin incision), T3 (10 min after opening the chest), T4 (end of surgery), and T5 (immediately after laryngeal mask/nasopharyngeal airway removal). One patient required conversion to intubation, 15 developed intraoperative hypotension, and two had hypoxemia. MAP at T0 and T5 was higher than at T1-T4; MAP at T3 was lower (P<0.05 vs other time points). HR at T0 and T5 was higher (P<0.05 vs other time points). ETCO2 at T2 and T3 was higher (P<0.05 vs other time points). Arterial pH, PCO2, and lactic acid at T1 differed from values at T0 and T2 (P<0.05). The Quality of Recovery-15 (QoR-15) score at 24 h was lower (P<0.05). One patient experienced dysphoria during recovery. Thoracoscopic surgery with regional block under direct thoracoscopic vision is a feasible and safe alternative to conventional surgery under general anesthesia, intubation, and one-lung ventilation.

Comparison of Outcomes between Intubated and Non-intubated Video-assisted Thoracoscopic Wedge Resections Applied in the Same Patient / 계명의대학술지

In video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation was considered an optimal method of anesthesia for a long time. However, complications due to general anesthesia and one-lung ventilation have become a problem. In recent years, epidural anesthesia without endotracheal intubation has been attempted in various thoracic surgical procedures with various advantages and disadvantages reported. We compared postoperative pain and prognosis when different anesthesia methods were used in a patient who underwent the same operation twice in the interval of one year. When non-intubated video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (NIVATS) underwent under epidural anesthesia, postoperative pain score was lower, adverse events were fewer, and the hospital stay was shorter than that of VATS. The patient also expressed high subjective satisfaction. Like previous studies, the results favored NIVATS under epidural anesthesia. However, greater attention and proficiency are required from the anesthesiologist for proper analgesia and sedation.

Non-intubated, intravenous anesthesia with spontaneous ventilation versus routine intravenous anesthesia in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery: A randomized controlled trial / 中国胸心血管外科临床杂志

@#Objective    To compare the feasibility and safety of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) under non-intubated, intravenous anesthesia with spontaneous ventilation. Methods    A total of 80 patients undergoing VATS (48 wedge resections, 8 sympathectomies, 24 pleural biopsies) between January 2015 and June 2017 were included. Those patients were randomized into two groups. The 40 patients were enrolled as a treatment group (19 males and 21 females at age of 23.3±10.2 years) and received surgery under non-intubated intravenous anesthesia with spontaneous ventilation. And the other 40 patients were enrolled as a control group (21 males and 19 females at age of 22.2±9.9 years) and received surgery under routine intravenous anesthesia with intubated ventilation. Results    Comparing with the control group, the patients of the treatment group had lower white blood cell count (5.8×109±2.4×109 vs. 7.3×109±3.6×109, P<0.001), lower gastrointestinal adverse reaction rate (7.5% vs. 27.5%, P=0.002), lower sore throat rate (5.0% vs. 30.0%, P<0.001), lower cough grade (0.9±0.3 vs 2.1±0.5, P<0.050), shorter drainage time (1.8±1.6 d vs. 3.7±1.8 d, P<0.050) and shorter hospital stay (2.3±1.8 d vs. 5.8±2.3 d, P<0.050). Conclusion    Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery under non-intubated, intravenous anesthesia with spontaneous ventilation is safe and feasible, which also has certain advantages in reducing the postoperative complications and promoting patients' quick recovery from surgery.

Non-intubated thoracoscopic surgery for decortication of empyema under thoracic epidural anesthesia: a case report / 대한마취과학회지

General anesthesia is the main strategy for almost all thoracic surgeries. However, a growing body of literature has reported successful cases of non-intubated thoracic surgery with regional anesthesia. This alternative strategy not only prevents complications related to general anesthesia, such as lung injury, incomplete re-expansion and intubation related problems, but also accords with trends of shorter hospital stay and lower overall costs. We experienced a successful case of non-intubated thoracoscopic decortication for a 68-year-old man who was diagnosed as empyema while the patient kept spontaneously breathing with moderate sedation under thoracic epidural anesthesia. The patient showed a fast recovery without concerns of general anesthesia related complications and effective postoperative analgesia through thoracic epidural patient-controlled analgesia device. This is the first report of non-intubated thoracoscopic surgery under thoracic epidural anesthesia in Korea, and we expect that various well designed prospective studies will warrant the improvement of outcomes in non-intubated thoracoscopic surgery.

Single-Port Thoracic Surgery: A New Direction

Single-port video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) has slowly established itself as an alternate surgical approach for the treatment of an increasingly wide range of thoracic conditions. The potential benefits of fewer surgical incisions, better cosmesis, and less postoperative pain and paraesthesia have led to the technique's popularity worldwide. The limited single small incision through which the surgeon has to operate poses challenges that are slowly being addressed by improvements in instrument design. Of note, instruments and video-camera systems that are narrower and angulated have made single-port VATS major lung resection easier to perform and learn. In the future, we may see the development of subcostal or embryonic natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery access, evolution in anaesthesia strategies, and cross-discipline imaging-assisted lesion localization for single-port VATS procedures.