Managing hypoxemia during minimally invasive thoracic surgery.

An ever-increasing number of thoracic procedures are being performed through minimally invasive techniques. Although the incidence of hypoxemia during one-lung ventilation (OLV) has decreased over the years, it remains an issue in roughly 10% of cases. Algorithms for the management of OLV hypoxemia have to be adapted to the thoracoscopic approach, in particular the need for optimal surgical exposure. With appropriate planning and caution, most of the treatment modalities for OLV hypoxemia can be applied to the thoracoscopy setting, with some modifications.