Radiofrequency ablation of lung tumours with the patient under thoracic epidural anaesthesia

Radiofrequency ablation of lung tumours is a curative technique that is newly considered being offered to nonsurgical patients. It is of major interest because it enables local destruction of the tumour without surgery and spares healthy parenchyma. However, some patients have previous serious respiratory failure, thus ruling out mechanical ventilation. To operate with the patient under thoracic epidural is an answer to this problem. Our experience shows that the procedure is able to be performed completely without converting to general anaesthesia.