Oxygen toxicity during one-lung ventilation: is it time to re-evaluate our practice?

Lung cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality. Surgical resection remains the mainstay of non-small cell lung cancer therapy, but an increasing number of patients receive preoperative adjuvant chemotherapy that may predispose these patients to unique organ toxicities. This chemotherapy, along with exposure to high oxygen concentrations, may combine to increase the risk of reactive oxygen species-mediated lung injury. Continued efforts are needed to improve overall outcome in these patients, including a reevaluation of our management of oxygen therapy.