The Impact of Regional Anaesthesia on Hormone Levels in Thoracic Surgery.

Basic aspects of thoracic anaesthesia are general anesthesia often combined with regional anesthesia, intubation with double lumen tube and separation of lung ventilation. Proper assessment of pain and adequate analgesia in intraoperative and postoperative period is a challenging issue for medical practitioners. Intraoperative trauma may lead to many metabolic implications and disturbance of haemostasis, what can be reflected in change of blood and saliva hormone and other substance levels. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of regional anesthesia on hormone levels in patients requiring videothoracoscopic procedures.