Published in Zentralblatt für Chirurgie
The efficient and persisting treatment of the pain accompanying thoracic surgery is fundamental and beneficial for patients, since severe postoperative pulmonary complications and the incidence of chronic pain will be reduced. In this review the role of thoracic epidural analgesia in preventing and treating pain after thoracic surgery will be discu...
Published in Zentralblatt für Chirurgie
There are only sparse data concerning postoperative chest X-rays in thoracic surgery patients. In a study on children and young adults undergoing a Nuss procedure routine radiological examination was substituted by clinical indication resulting in a lower rate of thoracic drain placement. A chest X-ray to document the location of the metal bar prio...
Published in Zentralblatt für Chirurgie
Published in Zentralblatt für Chirurgie
Based on the few prospective, randomised studies a single dose of intravenous PAP with a cephalosporin is recommended in thoracic surgery. Therapy of the POP should include general procedures combined with a specific antibiotic therapy according to antibiotic sensitivity.
Published in Zentralblatt für Chirurgie
Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) procedures might reduce operative stress by minimising operative trauma. However VATS, in particular VATS lobectomy, is still associated with moderate acute postoperative pain. A gold standard for regional analgesia for VATS procedures has not yet surfaced, the studies published so far are very heterogeneous. ...
Published in Zentralblatt für Chirurgie
The aim of preoperative lung function analysis and diagnostic cardiology is to identify patients with an increased risk of complications and to best inform the patients about treatment options and risks so that an informed treatment decision can be made. The identification of patients at increased peri-interventional risk by preoperative physiologi...
Published in Zentralblatt für Chirurgie
The presence of air between the visceral pleura and the parietal pleura with consecutive retraction of the lung from the chest wall is called pneumothorax. Regarding the genesis of the pneumothorax, a distinction is drawn between spontaneous and traumatic pneumothorax. The spontaneous pneumothorax is, depending on whether a congenital or an acquire...
Published in Zentralblatt für Chirurgie
Following thoracic surgery atrial fibrillation (AF) frequently occurs in 12 to 44 % of cases postoperatively and is related to an increased morbidity and mortality. In 2011, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons of the United States published guidelines for the prophylaxis and treatment of postoperative AF. High evidence levels are provided for continui...
Published in Zentralblatt für Chirurgie
The perioperative use of anticoagulants in general thoracic surgery can be considered to be a "two-edged sword": the goal to minimise the risk of a thromboembolic episode is contrary to the ongoing effort of the surgeon to minimise the risk of intra- and postoperative blood loss. Dispositional factors such as excessive tobacco use are common for th...
Published in Zentralblatt für Chirurgie
Regardless of procedure (VATS vs. open) pain control can be achieved with an adequate analgetic regime. For VATS during the first days a lower amount of medication is required. The VATS group showed a higher proportion of patients with very low postoperative pain profile: patients with pain score always under 4 and patients without pain at certain ...
