title: Fast track in thoracic surgery and anaesthesia: update of concepts.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Update of key elements on enhanced recovery after thoracic anaesthesia and surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pathways to enhance recovery after thoracic surgery ('fast-track') aim to improve response to lung surgery, reduction of postoperative pulmonary complications, and restore patient's vital function. Uncomplicated recovery after lung surgery reduces morbidity, hospital stay, and costs. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery is a major part of enhanced recovery minimizing tissue injury and stress response. Maintaining patient's physiology throughout perioperative processes by optimized anaesthesiological management and effective pain control present a crucial role in improving outcome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The concept of enhanced recovery ('fast-track') after thoracic surgery and anaesthesia was developed in recent years making allowance to the increased number of video-assisted parenchymal lung resections in managing primary lung cancer. Current studies promote the benefit in thoracic surgical patients, if an established departmental protocol-based algorithm is implemented.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Medical Center, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Loop
mesh_terms: D000758:Anesthesia / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D020775:Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D019616:Thoracic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data