Many patients in this category are long-term smokers. This increases their chances of complication six-fold. Most have some history of chronic, long-term lung disease. The potential for postoperative anesthetic complications in such patients is increased an additional 20-fold over patients with normal lungs. Effect of Thoracic Surgery on Postoperative Lung Function.
Thoracic surgery can impair lung function due to direct damage to the lung.
In the case of patients with chronic lung disease these impairments can be more severe. Intraoperative Anesthetic Requirements. Intraoperative anesthetic requirements for thoracic surgery will vary case to case. Most thoracic surgical procedures require special patient positioning during the course of surgery. This also carries special anesthetic challenges.