Anaesthesiology for uniportal VATS: double lumen, single lumen and tubeless

Abstract

The advent of one-lung ventilation (OLV) technique provides immobilized surgical field which is fundamental in minimally invasive thoracic surgery. Mainstem methods of achieving lung separation are either via a double-lumen endotracheal tube or placing a bronchial blocker (BB) through a single-lumen endotracheal tube. More recently, the use of non-intubated thoracic surgery (NITS) has been investigated intensively, attempting to minimise the complications that follow general anaesthesia. The aim of this review is to describe the mechanism of these techniques briefly and outlines the advantages and drawbacks of them with the comparison.

Keywords: Double-lumen endotracheal tube; endobronchial blocker; non-intubated thoracic surgery (NITS); one-lung ventilation (OLV); video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS).

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.