Arts on tailored postoperative analgesia after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has been widely used in recent decades. However, VATS, although different from an open thoracotomy, causes intense pain (1,2). In some individuals, it remains one of the most painful surgical procedures possible. Poor postoperative pain control after VATS may prolong hospitalization duration and result in the development of chronic persistent pain after surgery (3) However, for different pain sensations after VATS, multimodal analgesia, with or without conventional thoracic epidural or paravertebral analgesia, has become the mainstay for achieving adequate analgesia.