Thoracoscopy
Thoracoscopy is also known as pleuroscopy when used specifically to examine the lungs. It is commonly referred to as Video Assisted Thoracoscopy (VATs), and is the process of inserting an endoscope, a tube with a camera on the end, into the chest to view the thoracic cavity. It gives
doctors a diagnostic tool that is considerably less invasive than opening the thoracic cavity, a thoracotomy, and gives a better view than that provided by an X-Ray, and can even be used to
biopsy potentially diseased tissue (1). Most commonly it is performed to examine lung tissue and/or obtain biopsy samples.
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The procedure is done in a hospital with general, as opposed to local, anesthesia. The patient needs to fast, no food or water, for eight to ten hours before the procedure. The doctor will let the patient know if other medications should be temporarily stopped to avoid complications. Since blood transfusions may be needed, some people choose to give blood or have family members with compatible blood types donate blood specifically reserved for the patient to minimize the chance, already remote, of contracting other illnesses through tainted blood.
Generally the process itself takes about one or two hours to complete.
Even though a thoracoscopy is less invasive than traditional open chest surgery, it is not without some risk. The biggest dangers are a risk of excessive bleeding, blood clots, or a collapsed lung, pneumothorax, when the endoscope is removed.
After surgery patients generally have some sort of assisted breathing, either with endotracheal tubes, or with a tube temporarily inserted through the front of the throat (2). There may also be tubes coming from the chest. These tubes help drain any blood or other fluid that would otherwise build up in the chest cavity and make it more difficult for the lung to re-inflate.