BACKGROUND Tracheal intubation via laryngoscopy is a fundamental skill, particularly for anaesthesiologists. However, teaching this skill is difficult since direct laryngoscopy allows only one individual to view the larynx during the procedure. The purpose of this study was to determine if video-assisted laryngoscopy improves the effectiveness of tracheal intubation training. METHODS In this ...

Video-assisted thoracic surgery is finding an ever-increasing role in the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of thoracic disorders that previously required sternotomy or open thoracotomy. The potential advantages of video-assisted thoracic surgery include less postoperative pain, fewer operative complications, shortened hospital stay and reduced costs. The following review examines the sur...

BACKGROUND Minimally invasive cardiovascular procedures have been progressively used in heart surgery. OBJECTIVE To describe the techniques and immediate results of minimally invasive procedures in 5 years. METHODS Prospective and descriptive study in which 102 patients were submitted to minimally invasive procedures in direct and video-assisted forms. Clinical and surgical variables were e...

OBJECTIVE This study was performed to assess the clinical feasibility and surgical outcomes of video-assisted mediastinoscopic lymphadenectomy in the treatment of resectable lung cancer. METHODS Between July 2004 and December 2009, we retrospectively analyzed 108 consecutive video-assisted mediastinoscopic lymphadenectomies in lung cancer patients from a prospectively collected database. Nine...

BACKGROUND Video assisted thoracoscopic lung biopsies were compared with historical controls undergoing open lung biopsy to determine the diagnostic accuracy, effect on length of postoperative stay, and cost effectiveness of the new thoracoscopic technique. METHODS The first 25 video assisted thoracoscopic lung biopsies performed in the Edinburgh Thoracic Unit were compared with 25 historical...

Corresponding author: Jin-Kyoung Kim, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50, Ilwon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, Korea. Tel: 82-2-3410-2477, Fax: 82-2-3410-6626, E-mail: [email protected] This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial L...