Abstract
In contrast to its use in other surgical disciplines, intraoperative sonography has
so far been of minor importance in thoracic surgery. The technique of intrathoracic,
intraoperative, ultrasonic examination was applied in 85 patients with different indications:
in 61 patients during thoracoscopy, in 24 patients during open thoracic surgery. 6
patients eventually underwent a combination of both procedures. In order to improve
the intrathoracic maneuverability of the sonographic probe we developed an electrically
controllable handle for the probe. The examinations showed a high sensitivity of thoracoscopic
ultrasonography for localization of intrapulmonary tumors. In addition, ultrasound
was applied to assess the operability of central tumors. The sound frequency available
so far for intraoperative application allows a safe distinction of non-infiltrating
tumors from vascular structures; the reliable identification of an infiltration mostly
requires a higher resolution. If our experiences are confirmed by further application
of the method, explorative thoracotomies will surely be partly replaced by explorative
thoracoscopic interventions. Ultrasonogoraphy has also proved to be useful in visualisation
of mediastinal lymph-nodes and tumors, with the possibility of assessing their size.
Key words
Intraoperative sonography - Thoracic surgery
