Thoracic Anesthesia

In 2020, Dr. Jayden Cowan and Dr. Julia Haber formed a Canadian Thoracic Taskforce to develop the first known thoracic crisis manual for preoperative planning, intraoperative review, postoperative debriefing, and medical education for specific thoracic scenarios. This taskforce was comprised of twelve members from across Canada with thoracic anesthesia experience, including eight staff anesthesiologists, one thoracic anesthesiology fellow, and three anesthesiology resident physicians. The Thoracic Crisis Manual was designed to provide an expert consensus for the management of various thoracic scenarios based on current literature.

The Thoracic Crisis Manual is designed as a quick reference for anesthesiologists managing a thoracic emergency. Each cognitive aid has a standard layout using an open-source template from Ariadne Labs. The scenarios begin with a brief description then offer a stepwise approach to management in addition to alternative management options, differential diagnosis, risk factors, complications, and critical changes. The thoracic events and emergencies that are addressed in the manual include: hypoxemia during one lung ventilation (including rigid bronchoscopy), massive hemorrhage during mediastinoscopy and video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS), mediastinal mass, tracheobronchial tree disruption (including bronchopleural and tracheoesophageal fistulae), massive hemoptysis (including tracheoinnominate artery fistulae), esophageal disruption, and cardiac herniation.

Authors: Dr. Jayden Cowan, Dr. Andrew Owen, Dr. Darren Lam, Dr. David Bracco, Dr. Heather Hurdle, Dr. Jens Lohser, Dr. Jonah Hirshberg, Dr. Julia Cory, Dr. Lorraine Chow, Dr. Meredith Hutton, Dr. Sarah McDonald, Dr. Julia Haber.

The Thoracic Crisis Manual can be downloaded for free. Thoracic Crisis Manual.

A supplementary written summary of the Thoracic Crisis Manual is pending publication and will soon be available coming soon.

The full reference list for the Thoracic Crisis Manual can be accessed.  Full Reference List.

Feedback on the Thoracic Crisis Manual can be sent to:  thoracicmanual@gmail.com.