Ultimate management of post thoracotomy morbidities: a set of surgical technique and peri-operative precautions

Thoracotomy is the traditional approach to gain pleural cavity in thoracic surgery. Its feature is chest wall opening by costal spreading to provide a direct and wide surgical field view. It allows to comfortably access the throat, lungs, heart and diaphragm. Thoracotomy is not only a classic approach to pleural space but it is also the most common so far. Despite the advent of minimally invasive surgery, that over the last two decades has established itself as the preferred approach for almost all thoracic surgical procedures in high specialized centers (1), thoracotomy indeed is still recommended for many challenging surgical interventions.