Non-intubated thoracic surgery-A survey from the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

Background: A survey amongst the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) members has been performed to investigate the currents trends, rates of adoption as well as potential for future expansion of non-intubated thoracic surgery (NITS) performed under spontaneous ventilation.

Methods: A 14-question-based questionnaire has been e-mailed to ESTS members. To facilitate the completion of the questionnaire, questions entailed either quantitative or multiple-choice answers. Investigated issues included previous experience with NITS and number of procedures performed, preferred types of anesthesia protocols (i.e., thoracic epidural anesthesia, intercostal or paravertebral blocks, laryngeal mask, use of additional sedation), type of procedures, ideal candidates for NITS, main advantages and technical disadvantages. Non-univocal answer to multiple-choice questions was permitted.

Results: Out of 105 responders, 62 reported an experience with NITS. The preferred types of anesthesia were intercostal blocks with (59%) or without (50%) sedation, followed by laryngeal mask with sedation (43%) and thoracic epidural anesthesia with sedation (20%). The most frequently performed procedures included thoracoscopic management of recurrent pleural effusion (98%), pleural decortication for empyema thoracis and lung biopsy for interstitial lung disease (26% each); pericardial window and mediastinal biopsy (20% each). More complex procedures such as lobectomy, lung volume reduction surgery and thymectomy have been performed by a minority of responders (2% each). Poor-risk patients due to co-morbidities (70%) and patients with poor pulmonary function (43%) were considered the ideal candidates. Main advantages included faster, recovery (67%), reduced morbidity (59%) and shorter hospital stay with decreased costs (43% each). Reported technical disadvantages included coughing (59%) and poor maneuverability due to diaphragmatic and lung movements (56%). Overall, 69% of responders indicated that NITS procedures will be likely to increase in the near future.

Conclusions: Results of this survey, suggest that NITS is already quite widely adopted by ESTS members to perform simple thoracoscopic procedures. A future expanded adoption of this strategy is also hypothesized.