Medical Thoracoscopy

As opposed to ‘video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery’ which requires general anesthesia, double-lumen tracheal intubation and single lung ventilation, medical thoracoscopy (or ‘pleuroscopy’) is frequently performed in the respiratory endoscopy suite using local anesthesia. It can be done by well-trained physicians, either pulmonologists or thoracic surgeons, and its main indication is related to diagnosis and treatment of pleural effusions. Also, pneumothorax can be managed in most cases using medical thoracoscopy. This article focuses in particular on technical aspects of medical thoracoscopy, including the selection and preparation of the patient, the choice of equipment, specific details of the procedure itself, and other technical details aimed at preventing complications.