Validation of the American College of Surgeons surgical risk calculator for thoracic surgery.

Background: Advances in medicine and surgical techniques make it possible to operate on selected comorbid elderly patients for whom risk assessment is essential. We aimed to validate the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) surgical risk calculator specifically for thoracic surgery.

Methods: This study retrospectively included 283 consecutive patients who all underwent various thoracic surgeries at our center.

The efficacy of loco-regional ropivacaine analgesia via intercostal catheters after lung resection: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, superiority study.

Objectives: Postoperative pain remains a burden for patients after minimally invasive anatomic lung resection. Current guidelines recommend the intraoperative placement of intercostal catheters to promote faster recovery. This trial aimed to determine the analgesic efficacy of continuous loco-regional ropivacaine application via intercostal catheter and establish this method as a possible standard of care.

Perioperative intravenous lidocaine in thoracoscopic surgery for improved postoperative pain control: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, superiority trial.

Background: Pain, including associated pain management, remains a burden on patients after thoracic surgery. Our objective was to investigate whether perioperative intravenous administration of lidocaine reduces postoperative morphine consumption and pain intensity after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS).

Methods: In this double-blind, placebo-controlled superiority trial, patients undergoing VATS with a planned duration of ≤90 minutes were randomized within an intention-to-treat setting.

CT-guided percutaneous marking of small pulmonary nodules with [Tc]Tc-Macrosalb is very accurate and allows minimally invasive lung-sparing resection: a single-centre quality control.

Purpose: The detection of small lung nodules in thoracoscopic procedure is difficult when the lesions are not located within the outer border of the lung. In the case of ground-glass opacities, it is often impossible to palpate the lesion. Marking lung nodules using a radiotracer is a known technique.

3D-Quantitated Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography/Computed Tomography: Impact on intended Management Compared to Lung Perfusion Scan in Marginal Candidates for Pulmonary Resection.

Objectives: Based on previous studies, single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) has been proven more accurate and reproducible than planar lung perfusion scintigraphy to assess lobar perfusion. However, the impact of 3D-quantitated SPECT/CT on intended management in functionally marginal candidates for pulmonary resection is unknown. The evaluation of this impact was the main aim of this study.