Anesthesia for Thoracoscopy

Thoracoscopy is becoming more widely used in small animal patients for a variety of interventions. One major challenge for thoracoscopic surgeons is the creation of enough working space within the thorax to be able to complete the procedure. Although the working space provided by a pneumothorax alone may be adequate to perform procedures such as lung biopsy and pericardectomy, more complex interventions such as lung lobectomy may require techniques such as one-lung ventilation (OLV). OLV can be achieved in a number of ways using endobronchial blockers, double-lumen endobronchial blockers, or selective intubation. Although well tolerated in most patients, techniques such as OLV induce significant physiological changes that the anesthesia team must be aware of and have the ability to manage in the perioperative period.