Uniportal non-intubated thoracic surgery

[Consensus guideline on the interdisciplinary diagnosis of interstitial lung diseases]

The evaluation of a patient with interstitial lung disease (ILD) includes assessment of clinical, radiological, and often histopathological data. As there were no specific recommendations to guide the evaluation of patients under the suspicion of an ILD within the German practice landscape, this position statement from an interdisciplinary panel of ILD experts provides guidance related to the diagnostic modalities which should be used in the evaluation of ILD. This includes clinical assessment rheumatological evaluation, radiological examinations, histopathologic sampling and the need for a final discussion in a multidisciplinary team.

General anaesthesia with double-lumen intubation compared to opioid-sparing strategies with laryngeal mask for thoracoscopic surgery: A randomised trial

BACKGROUND

General anaesthesia for thoracoscopic lung surgery can be performed with the opioid-sparing strategies without intubation and may reduce the risk of glottic injury and enhance recovery after surgery. We therefore tested the primary hypothesis that avoiding intubation reduces glottic injury.

METHODS

Adults having elective thoracoscopic lung resections were randomised to: (1) intubated group: routine general anaesthesia with a double-lumen tube intubation; or, (2) non-intubated group: a bundle of opioid-sparing strategies, which included paravertebral blocks and total intravenous anaesthesia with minimal remifentanil infusion from 0.05 to 1.0 ng/mL (avoid sufentanil unless the respiratory rate exceeds 25/min or the systolic blood pressure exceeds 30% of the baseline value), no muscle relaxation, and spontaneous ventilation through a laryngeal mask. The primary outcome was glottal injury as determined by transnasal bronchoscopy one hour after removal of the laryngeal mask or double-lumen tube.

RESULTS

Two hundred seventeen patients were assessed for the primary outcome. Sufentanil use was reduced 96% and remifentanil was reduced 40% in non-intubated opioid-sparing patients. The incidence of glottal injury was 9% (10/109) in the non-intubated vs. 37% (40/108) in the intubated patients (RR: 0.25; 95%CI: 0.13-0.47, P < 0.001). The non-intubated group also had less postoperative sore throat (8% vs. 39%; P < 0.001) and hoarseness (3% vs. 19%; P < 0.001). Postoperative pulmonary complications and lung injury biomarkers did not differ between the groups. Compared to the intubated group, the non-intubated group had less postoperative pain, faster recovery, and improved quality-of-life scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Non-intubated opioid-sparing strategies for video-assisted lung resections reduce airway injury and promote postoperative recovery.

CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER AND REGISTRY URL

ChiCTR1800018198 https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=30780.

The Anesthesiologist's Perspective Regarding Non-intubated Thoracic Surgery: A Scoping Review

Non-intubated thoracic surgery (NITS) is a growing practice, alongside minimally invasive thoracic surgery. To date, only a consensus of experts provided opinions on NITS leaving a number of questions unresolved. We then conducted a scoping review to clarify the state of the art regarding NITS. The systematic review of all randomized and non-randomized clinical trials dealing with NITS, based on Pubmed, EMBASE, and Scopus, retrieved 665 articles. After the exclusion of ineligible studies, 53 were assessed examining: study type, Country of origin, surgical procedure, age, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologist's physical status, airway management device, conversion to orotracheal intubation and pulmonary complications rates and length of hospital stay. It emerged that NITS is a procedure performed predominantly in Asia, and certain European Countries. In China, NITS is more frequently performed for parenchymal resection surgery, whereas in Europe, it is mainly employed for pleural pathologies. The most commonly used device for airway management is the laryngeal mask. The conversion rate to orotracheal intubation is a~3%. The results of the scoping review seem to suggest that NITS procedures are becoming increasingly popular, but its role needs to be better defined. Further randomized clinical trials are needed to better define the role of the clinical variables possibly impacting on the technique effectiveness.

Systematic Review Registration

https://osf.io/mfvp3/, identifier: 10.17605/OSF.IO/MFVP3.

Italian survey on non-intubated thoracic surgery: results from INFINITY group

Background

Non-Intubated Thoracic Surgery (NITS) is becoming increasingly adopted all over the world. Although it is mainly used for pleural operations,, non-intubated parenchymal lung surgery has been less frequently reported. Recently, NITS utilization seems to be increased also in Italy, albeit there are no multi-center studies confirming this finding. The objective of this survey is to assess quantitatively and qualitatively the performance of NITS in Italy.

Methods

In 2018 a web-based national survey on Non-Intubated management including both thoracic surgeons and anesthesiologists was carried out. Reference centers have been asked to answer 32 questions. Replies were collected from June 26 to November 31, 2019.

Results

We raised feedbacks from 95% (55/58) of Italian centers. Seventy-eight percent of the respondents perform NITS but only 38% of them used this strategy for parenchymal surgery. These procedures are more frequently carried out in patients with severe comorbidities and/or with poor lung function. Several issues as obesity, previous non-invasive ventilation and/or oxygen therapy are considered contraindications to NITS. The regional anesthesia technique most used to provide intra- and postoperative analgesia was the paravertebral block (37%). Conversion to general anesthesia is not anecdotal (31% of answerers). More than half of the centers believed that NITS may reduce postoperative intensive care unit admissions. Approximately a quarter of the centers are conducting trials on NITS and, three quarters of the respondent suppose that the number of these procedures will increase in the future.

Conclusions

There is a growing interest in Italy for NITS and this survey provides a clear view of the national management framework of these procedures.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12871-021-01514-3.

Thoracic surgery in the non-intubated spontaneously breathing patient

BACKGROUND

The interest in non-intubated video-assisted thoracic surgery (NIVATS) has risen over the last decade and numerous terms have been used to describe this technique. They all have in common, that the surgical procedure is performed in a spontaneously breathing patient under locoregional anaesthesia in combination with intravenous sedation but have also been performed on awake patients without sedation. Evidence has been generated favouring NIVATS compared to one-lung-ventilation under general anaesthesia.

MAIN BODY

We want to give an overview of how NIVATS is performed, and which different techniques are possible. We discuss advantages such as shorter length of hospital stay or (relative) contraindications like airway difficulties. Technical aspects, for instance intraoperative handling of the vagus nerve, are considered from a thoracic surgeon's point of view. Furthermore, special attention is paid to the cohort of patients with interstitial lung diseases, who seem to benefit from NIVATS due to the avoidance of positive pressure ventilation. Whenever a new technique is introduced, it must prove noninferiority to the state of the art. Under this aspect current literature on NIVATS for lung cancer surgery has been reviewed.

CONCLUSION

NIVATS technique may safely be applied to minor, moderate, and major thoracic procedures and is appropriate for a selected group of patients, especially in interstitial lung disease. However, prospective studies are urgently needed.

An air-locking port and high-flow nasal cannula in non-intubated uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery for pneumothorax with pulmonary dysfunction: a case report

Background

Non-intubated video-assisted thoracic surgery is a therapeutic option for intractable secondary spontaneous pneumothorax in patients who are poor candidates for surgery with endotracheal intubation under general anesthesia. However, intraoperative respiratory management in this surgery is often challenging because of hypoxia caused by surgical pneumothorax.

Case presentation

A 75-year-old man with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis who had been on home oxygen therapy underwent non-intubated uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery for intractable spontaneous pneumothorax. During the operation, oxygen was administered using a high-flow nasal cannula at a high flow rate. An air-locking port for single-incision surgery was used to minimize the inflow of air into the pleural cavity. The intrapleural air was continuously suctioned through the chest tube. The air-leak point was easily identified and closed using ligation. Oxygenation was satisfactory throughout the operation.

Conclusions

Non-intubated uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery for secondary spontaneous pneumothorax with an air-locking port, continuous pleural suction, and high-flow nasal cannula may achieve satisfactory intraoperative oxygenation in patients with respiratory dysfunction. The intrapleural space can be feasible for surgical manipulation without surgical pneumothorax in non-intubated video-assisted thoracic surgery even when supplied with oxygen at a high flow rate using a high-flow nasal cannula.

Uniportal VATS pleural biopsy in the diagnosis of exudative pleural effusion: awake or intubated?

Background

The aim of this study is to compare the diagnostic efficacy and safety of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) with awake VATS (AVATS) pleural biopsy in undiagnosed exudative pleural effusions.

Methods

The diagnostic efficacy of pleural biopsy by uniportal VATS under general anesthesia or AVATS under local anesthesia and sedation performed by the same surgeon in patients with undiagnosed exudative pleural effusion between 2007 and 2020 were retrospectively evaluated. Test sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were compared as well as age, gender, comorbidities, procedure safety, additional pleural-based interventions, duration time of operation and length of hospital stay.

Results

Of 154 patients with undiagnosed exudative pleural effusion, 113 (73.37%) underwent pleural biopsy and drainage with VATS, while 41 (26.62%) underwent AVATS pleural biopsy. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 92, 100, 100, and 85.71% for VATS, and 83.3, 100, 100, and 78.9% for AVATS, respectively. There was no significant difference in diagnostic test performance between the groups, (p = 0.219). There was no difference in the rate of complications [15 VATS (13.3) versus 4 AVATS (9.8%), p = 0.557]. Considering additional pleural-based interventions, while pleural decortication was performed in 13 (11.5%) cases in the VATS group, no pleural decortication was performed in AVATS group, (p = 0.021). AVATS group was associated with shorter duration time of operation than VATS (22.17 + 6.57 min. Versus 51.93 + 8.85 min., p < 0.001). Length of hospital stay was relatively shorter in AVATS but this was not statistically significant different (p = 0.063).

Conclusions

Our study revealed that uniportal AVATS pleural biopsy has a similar diagnostic efficacy and safety profile with VATS in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with undiagnosed pleural effusion who have a high risk of general anesthesia due to advanced age and comorbidities. Accordingly, uniportal AVATS pleural biopsy may be considered in the diagnosis and treatment of all exudative undiagnosed pleural effusions.

Oncological advantage of nonintubated thoracic surgery: Better compliance of adjuvant treatment after lung lobectomy

BACKGROUND

Video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) surgery contributes to improved survival, adjuvant chemotherapy delivery and less postoperative complications. Nonintubated thoracic surgery (NITS) VATS procedures improves immunological responses in lung cancer patients; however, there is no data regarding adjuvant chemotherapy delivery effectiveness following NITS lobectomies. In this study, we aimed to compare protocol compliance and toxic complications during adjuvant chemotherapy after intubated and nonintubated VATS lobectomies in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 66, stage IB-IIIB NSCLC patients who underwent intubated or nonintubated VATS lobectomy and received adjuvant chemotherapy.

RESULTS

A total of 38 patients (17 males, mean age 64 years) underwent conventional VATS and 28 (7 males; mean age 63 years) uniportal VATS NITS. Both groups had comparable demographic data, preoperative pulmonary function, and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) status. Among the intubated and nonintubated patients, 82% and 75% were diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, respectively. The incidence of adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma cases were similar in both groups; however, the pathological staging showed significant differences, as 5 (18%) nonintubated patients had stage IB lung cancer, compared with the intubated group (P = 0.01). Further distribution of stages was similar between the groups. We observed significant differences in chest tube duration and operation time in the nonintubated group (P < 0.01). Among nonintubated patients, 92% completed the planned chemotherapy protocol, compared to 71% of the intubated group (P = 0.035). Grade 1/2 toxicity occurred significantly more often in the intubated group (16% vs. 0%, P = 0.03) and there was a lower incidence of grade 4 neutropenia in the nonintubated group (0% vs. 16%, P = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results showed that the nonintubated procedure resulted in improved adjuvant chemotherapy compliance and lower toxicity rates after lobectomy.

KEY POINTS

SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS OF THE STUDY: Oncological advantage of the non-intubated thoracic surgery: better compliance with therapy protocol. What this study adds NITS lobectomies contribute to better administration of adjuvant chemotherapy with the planned cycle number and dosage.

Uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery for the treatment of lung cancer: a consensus report from Chinese Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (CSTCVS) and Chinese Association of Thoracic Surgeons (CATS)

Uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (UniVATS) has been widely adopted in China, where several ultra-high volume thoracic surgical and training centers are located. The objective of this consensus from Chinese experts was to summarize the current application and give reference for the future development of UniVATS in the treatment of lung cancer. A panel of 41 experts from 21 Chinese hospitals was invited to join this project. The Delphi method was used in this consensus consisting of two rounds of voting. The questionnaire was based on the current clinical evidence. Forty (97.6%) experts completed the 2 rounds of questionnaires. The experts’ experience was relatively similar. We defined the UniVATS as monitor-dependent surgery, no use of rib-spreading and single incision less than 4 cm. Tumor with stage of T1–T3 and N0–N2 is considered amenable to UniVATS. Other consensus was reached on several points outlining the safety and feasibility, surgical skills, learning curve, short-term and long-term outcomes for lung cancer, and current application of subxiphoid and nonintubated UniVATS approach. This consensus statement represents a collective agreement among Chinese experts to suggest that UniVATS is an effective alternative to multi-portal approach, although high-level evidence is expected in the future. Some agreements can be referred in the training of young surgeons.