Thoracic Epidural Anesthesia Combined with General Anesthesia: The Preferred Anesthetic Technique for Thoracic Surgery

Abstract

Fifty patients underwent lung surgery through the opened chest wall requiring ventilation of only one lung. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either general anesthesia alone or in combination with regional anesthesia via a catheter in the back. Oxygen content in the blood and blood pressure was better maintained in the group receiving the combination of general with regional anesthesia.