[Anesthesia in thoracic surgery in Catalonia: results of a survey carried out in 2003].
OBJECTIVE
To determine the anesthetic, surgical, and postoperative characteristics of patients who underwent thoracic surgery in Catalonia, Spain, in 2003.


METHODS
A prospective, cross-sectional survey was carried out on 14 randomly chosen days in 2003. All hospitals performing thoracic surgery in Catalonia took part. Data were collected on patient characteristics, anesthetic techniques, procedures, analgesia, and postoperative care.


RESULTS
Data on 171 anesthetic procedures in thoracic surgery were collected from 27 hospitals; these procedures represented 0.7% of the total anesthetic workload. Extrapolation from the collected data indicated that 4458 anesthetic procedures were performed in thoracic surgery in 2003 (95% confidence interval, 3624-4823 procedures). Of these procedures, 75.4% were performed in public hospitals and 24.6% in private hospitals. The median age of patients was 55 years (10th-90th percentiles, 22.4-73 years) and 63.9% were men. Surgical procedures were scheduled in 92.8% of the cases. The most common interventions were lung and bronchial surgery other than resection (36.8%), lung and/or bronchial resection (24.6%), and thoracoscopy and mediastinoscopy (20.5%). The median duration of pneumonectomies and lobectomies was 180 minutes (10th-90th percentiles, 90-221 minutes). General anesthesia was the most commonly used procedure (74.3%). Postoperative recovery took place in a conventional recovery room in 54.4% of cases, in a postanesthetic intensive care unit in 33.3% of cases, and in an intensive care unit in 12.3% of cases.


CONCLUSIONS
This survey provided information on anesthesia in thoracic surgery, which represented 0.7% of all anesthesia procedures in an area with a population of 7 million.
Vilà
Esther
E
Servicio de Anestesiología, Hospital Universitario Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, España. 35021evb@comb.es
García-Guasch
Roser
R
Sabaté
Sergi
S
Lucas
Montserrat
M
Canet
Jaume
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000758:Anesthesia / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D016304:Hospitals, Private / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011013:Pneumonectomy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012494:Sampling Studies; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D019616:Thoracic Surgical Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
D000700:Analgesics