Posted on 6/4/2018
"Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is a well established procedure, but patients with poor pulmonary function often cannot have it because it is risky for them to go under general anesthesia," says study author Ara Klijian, MD, of Sharp Grossmont Hospital, La Mesa, California and Scripps Mercy Hospital, San Diego. "I extended the VATS procedure so that it is done under local anesthesia with sedation.
This enabled me to do a variety of procedures including lobectomies, esophageal surgeries, decortications and other types of thoracic surgery, with better outcomes."
Over the last 5 years, Klijian has performed more than 500 AVATS procedures without significant mortality or morbidity. In the current study, 246 patients with lung cancer had the AVATS procedure. Klijian...