Systematic review on awake surgery for lung metastases

Abstract

In recent years, some authors started an awake surgery program for lung metastasectomy. Very few information are available, and there have been no randomized trials. Taking a cue from a clinical scenario a review on PUBMED was conducted from January 2000 to July 2017. The Following search terms were used to retrieve potentials published articles: “awake surgery” or “awake lung surgery” or “awake surgery for lung metastasectomy” or “non-intubated lung metastasectomy” or “awake surgery for pulmonary metastasectomy” or “non-intubated pulmonary metastasectomy” or “awake surgery for lung metastases” or “non-intubated lung metastases” or “awake surgery for pulmonary metastases” or “non-intubated pulmonary metastases”. Literature search yielded 5,295 studies, of which only 3 fulfilled our inclusion criteria, but only 2 studies presented statistical analysis for the survival and they were from the same group. Awake surgery for LM is a possible choice for selected patients when the general anesthesia or the intubation is contraindicated. Although there is “some encouraging” evidence regarding awake LM, its quality is still very weak to confirm the effectiveness for this approach. The initial positive results can drive further research in this direction, but caution is necessary.