What happens to the lung during mechanical ventilation and one-lung ventilation? -- Where should I send my patient after the operation? -- Does it matter, how I ventilate the patient during the operation? -- Can the "postoperative pulmonary complications" (PPC) be objectively evaluated? -- Fluid management during and after the operation: Less is more or more is less? -- How to organize the PACU/ How to treat in PACU -- Should I blame the surgeon: Surgical complications and surgical treatment of the complications -- Should every "myasthenic thymectomy" be sent to ICU? -- How about esophagectomies? -- Do the "new" devices of monitoring and USG make sense compared to the "classical" ones? -- What is different in postop MV after thoracic surgery? -- Pro's & Con's of non-invasive ventilation after thoracic surgery -- Extracorporeal lung support: Also after thoracic surgery? -- Pneumonia after thoracic surgery: infectious / ventilatory induced / any other reason? -- When and how do I have to treat the arrhythmia's after thoracic surgery? -- DVT-PE prophylaxy and patient using anticoagulants: a challenge? -- Pain after thoracic surgery: Why is it so bad? -- Rehabilitation for thoracic surgical patients: why and how.

This book offers a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of optimal postoperative care in patients who have undergone thoracic surgery and discusses challenging issues that are of interest not only in the context of thoracic surgery but also more generally within the fields of anesthesia, intensive care, and pain medicine. The coverage ranges, for example, from use of non-invasive ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and new monitoring devices to fluid management, pain control, and treatment of arrhythmias. A key feature of the book is the exceptionally attractive list of authors, who represent the most authoritative experts on the topics that they address. The approach is appropriately multidisciplinary, acknowledging that in many centers thoracic anesthetists are responsible for care during the postoperative period. This book is exceptional in being devoted solely to postoperative care in thoracic surgery, even though the difficulties involved in thoracic operations sometimes exceed those of cardiac surgery, especially in the postoperative period.