AY 130108 Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery Jay B. Brodskya and Edmond Cohenb Video-assisted thoracic surgery is finding an ever-increasing Introduction role in the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of thoracic Thoracoscopy involves intentionally creating a pneu- disorders that previously required sternotomy or open mothorax and then introducing an instrument through thoracotomy. The potential advantages of video-assisted the chest wall to visualize the intrathoracic structures. thoracic surgery include less postoperative pain, fewer Direct visual inspection of the pleural cavity has been operative complications, shortened hospital stay and reduced performed since 1910, when Jacobeaus ®rst used a costs. The following review examines the surgical and thoracoscope to diagnose and treat effusions secondary anesthetic considerations of video-assisted thoracic surgery, to tuberculosis. The recent application of video cameras with an emphasis on recently published articles. Curr Opin to thoracoscopes for high-de®nition magni®ed viewing, Anaesthesiol 13:000±000. # 2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. coupled with the development of sophisticated surgical instruments and stapling devices, has greatly expanded the ability of the endoscopist to do increasingly more complex procedures using thoracoscopy. aDepartment of Anesthesiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA; and bDepartment of Anesthesiology, The Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY, USA Compared with open thoracotomy, video-assisted thor- acoscopic surgery (VATS) is considered to be `minimally Correspondence to Jay B Brodsky at the Department of Anesthesiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA Tel: +1 650 725 5869; invasive'. The patient population tends to be either very fax: +1 650 725 8544; email:
[email protected] healthy individuals undergoing diagnostic procedures, or Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology 2000, 13:000±000 high-risk patients undergoing VATS to avoid open thoracotomy.