Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is a common complication after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgeries. It leads to early postoperative complications, prolonged ICU stay and hospital stay, increased hospital expense and medical system burden. POAF is hard to predict and difficult to treat. The potential mechanism of POAF is not fully understood. Since early 2020, covid-19 overwhelmed globally. Chest X-rays and CT scans prescribed enormously due to screening for covid-19 infection. Lung nodules are frequently discovered and the number of video-assisted thoracoscopic procedures is surged. Prevention and new targets of treatment of POAF need to be investigated urgently. This is a double blinded, randomized controlled trial, investigating the effect of autonomic nervous system modulation on POAF. In current study, patients with one or more POAF risks, who undergo video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy will be enrolled and randomized into two groups. Participants in the SGB group receive stellate ganglion blocks (SGB) preoperatively, while those in the control group receive sham blocks. All the patients receive standardized anesthesia and video-assisted thoracoscopic procedures. All of participants will be monitored with portable ECG monitoring for 48 hours to detect any POAF occurrence. Cytokines including IL-2, IL-6 and inflammatory bio-markers including C-reactive protein and white blood cell count are measured before surgery, 24h and 48h after surgery. The primary outcome is the occurrence of POAF and its duration. The sample size is calculated as 191 patients per group. The presumed result will be that SGB will lower the POAF incidence and shorten the duration after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgeries.
The aim of this study is to test if stellate ganglion block can decrease the incidence of atrial fibrillation after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery and the way it works.