Anaesthesia and Postoperative Pain Management for Bilateral Lung Volume Reduction Surgery

Abstract
Bilateral lung volume reduction surgery was introduced into Australia in 1995 for treatment of selected patients with emphysema. We present our experience of the anaesthetic management of our first 55 cases and describe factors associated with outcome. There were four postoperative deaths (7%). Mean (SD) total operation time was 231 (72) minutes. Median intensive care unit (ICU) stay was 26 hours. There was a significant improvement in postoperative lung function (FEV1, VC, 6-minute walk test, all P2=0.25, P=0.001), which itself was the only significant predictor of hospital stay duration (R2=0.36, P<0.001).