“Thoracic anesthesia in patients with airborne disease”

Health care workers are at risk of infection from aerosolization of respiratory secretions, droplet and contact spread. This has gained great importance after the COVID19 pandemic.

Intra-operative aerosol-generating procedures are arguably unavoidable in the routine provision of thoracic anesthesia. Airway management for such patients during the COVID-19 pandemic including tracheal intubation, lung isolation, one-lung ventilation and flexible bronchoscopy may pose a significant risk to healthcare professionals and patients.

The thoracic anesthetic community has been confronted with the need to modify existing techniques to maximize safety for patients and healthcare professionals.