Anesthesia for Lung Transplantation

Abstract

Since the first human procedure in 1963, lung transplantation has become the gold standard treatment of a variety of end-stage lung diseases. With over 4000 lung transplants performed in 2015 and steadily improving survival rates over the past three decades, anesthetic management of patients undergoing lung transplant can significantly contribute to patient outcomes. Anesthesia care for lung transplantation can be both complex and clinically challenging. Anesthesiologists taking part in these procedures need to have specific skills regarding thoracic and cardiac anesthesia. There are both technical and physiological challenges, such as achieving adequate lung isolation and oxygenation, interpretation and use of transesophageal echocardiography, and the management of respiratory and myocardial impairments. This chapter provides an overview of these perioperative anesthetic management considerations utilizing a problem-based format.