Developing a minimally-invasive anaesthesiological approach to non-intubated uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in minor and major thoracic surgery

Henning Starke; Norman Zinne; Andreas Leffler; Patrick Zardo; Jan Karsten

doi:10.21037/jtd-20-2122

Developing a minimally-invasive anaesthesiological approach to non-intubated uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in minor and major thoracic surgery

J Thorac Dis. 2020 Dec;12(12):7202-7217. doi: 10.21037/jtd-20-2122.

Authors

Henning Starke¹, Norman Zinne², Andreas Leffler¹, Patrick Zardo², Jan Karsten¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
² Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Germany.

Abstract

Background: Non-intubated uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (niVATS) is a novel approach to major and minor lung resection. It benefits from a holistic anesthesiological concept with adequate pain relief and sedation in a minimal-invasive setup allowing thoracic procedures under spontaneous breathing. At present no anesthesiological gold standard for niVATS exists. The primary aim of our retrospective observational study was to evaluate feasibility and safety of minimally invasive niVATS for both minor and major pulmonary resections at our institution.

Methods: All 88 consecutive patients scheduled for niVATS minor or major thoracic procedures were included into the study. Anaesthesia was performed according to a departmental niVATS algorithm including both regional anaesthesia and sedation. Patient characteristics and early outcome data including intraoperative and postoperative findings were compared between groups. Prediction scores for postoperative complications (LAS VEGAS, ARISCAT, ThRCRI) were calculated and compared.

Results: No early mortality and a low overall morbidity rate of 28.4% were encountered. Conversion to orotracheal intubation was required in 6.8% of all cases. Postoperative pulmonary complications occurred in 15.9% of total cases and were lower than predicted by both LAS VEGAS and ARISCAT respectively. Cardiac complications were found in 1.1% and lower than predicted by ThRCRI. A persistent air leak occurred in 11.4% of total cases and was significantly higher in major resection. Postoperative chest tube duration and hospital length of stay in the major resection group exceeded times reported by other groups.

Conclusions: niVATS appears to be safe in both minor and major thoracic procedures. A minimally invasive anaesthesiological approach foregoing central iv lines, arterial blood pressure measurement and urinary catheterization is feasible. Our niVATS protocol appears to be a viable alternative for both minor and major thoracic procedures in selected patients.

Keywords: Regional anaesthesia; intubation; postoperative pulmonary complications; thoracoscopy.