Pathophysiology of one-lung ventilation

The management of some problematic patients having thoracic surgery is among the most difficult challenges for the anesthesiologist. Increasingly complex operations are performed on seriously compromised patients because of the development of new surgical techniques and the anesthesiologists' awareness of surgical needs and requirements to provide a satisfactory and safe surgical field. In order to facilitate thoracic surgery, the single most important and valuable anesthetic technique used actually is one-lung ventilation. This article reviews the complex pathopysiology of one-lung ventilation.