Nonintubated video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery using regional anesthesia and targeted sedation in a myasthenia gravis patient

Abstract

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a disease affecting the acetylcholine receptor in the neuromuscular junction. Symptoms of MG are muscle weakness and fatigue. Video-assisted thoracoscopic extended thymectomy (VATS-ET) is well established in the treatment of MG if medical treatment is failed. In the recent decade, VATS under nonintubated anesthesia has been intensively researched and reported, which has been advocated to be a preferred alternative to the conventional intubated anesthesia for pulmonary nodules. However, cases with MG receiving nonintubated VATS-ET have rarely been reported. Here, we described a successful anesthesia of a 44-year-old woman with MG undergoing nonintubated VATS-ET.

Keywords

• Anesthesia
• myasthenia gravis
• thymectomy
• video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery