The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility and the effect of Thoracic Epidural Anaesthesia for awake thoracic surgery to speed up recovery in patients as well as avoiding the complications accompanying General Anesthesia with one lung ventilation.~Type of Study: Prospective randomized clinical study. Study Setting: This study will be conducted in Ain Shams University Hospitals..~Study Period: Expected for two years starting from 2019.~Sampling Method: Randomized sampling by a computer generated random numbers table.~Sample Size: 40 patients. Sample size was calculated using PASS 11 program for sample size calculation and according to the (Pompeo et al., 2004) study, the mean PaO2 perioperatively in the awake group = -3±1.5 mmHg and in the second group = -6.5±1.83 mmHg. Sample size of 40 cases per group (total 40) can detect this difference with power 100% and α-error 0.05.
Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) is usually performed with general anesthesia and single lung ventilation. However, performing thoracic surgery under awake regional anesthesia has several potential advantages including avoidance of airway trauma and ventilator dependence associated with endotracheal intubation, besides promoting enhanced recovery after surgery and shorter mean hospital stay.