Impact of Lidocaine Administration on Postoperative Complications During Lung Resection Surgery

Postoperative pulmonary complications continue to be one of the main causes of morbidity, mortality and increase in hospital stay in patients undergoing surgical procedures requiring anesthesia. Its incidence in lung resection surgery is greater than in other non‐cardiac major surgeries due to damage of structures related to respiratory function. Furthermore, during lung resection surgery there is an exaggerated pulmonary inflammatory response related to the use of one‐lung ventilation and / or the lung damage produced by the collapse of the operated lung as well as the surgical manipulation itself. Recently, in a clinical trial on 180 patients (NCT 02168751), our researcher group observed that the attenuation of the pulmonary inflammatory response through the use of halogenated anesthetic agents, was related to a decrease in the appearance of postoperative pulmonary complications after lung resection surgery. In addition, the presence, in bronchoalveolar lavages, of elevated levels of tumor necrosis factor‐alpha, interleukine(IL)‐6 and the IL‐6 / IL10 ratio were independent predictors of the risk of developing postoperative pulmonary complications. Lidocaine is a local anesthetic that blocks nerve conduction by blocking sodium channels. In addition it has been known for experimental and clinical studies of its immunomodulatory properties. Clinical studies performed in different surgeries show that a continuous intravenous infusion of lidocaine during surgery is associated with a lower inflammatory response assessed by monitoring plasma cytokines, as well as less postoperative pain, a shorter duration of postoperative paralytic ileus and a early hospital discharge. Currently, there is no clinical study that has evaluated the role of intravenous lidocaine on the pulmonary inflammatory response and the subsequent lung damage that inevitably occurs during lung resection surgery with periods of one lung ventilation. Currently, some experts are proposing the replacement of thoracic epidural and paravertebral analgesia by the intravenous infusion of lidocaine and minor analgesics, for fast‐track programs, based on their analgesic and anti‐inflammatory capacity and on avoiding the risks inherent in the insertion of an epidural or paravertebral catheter. Hypothesis: The administration of intravenous or paravertebral lidocaine during lung resection surgery attenuates the exaggerated inflammatory response that inevitably occurs in this surgical intervention. The lower expression of pro‐inflammatory mediators will be associated with a lower rate of postoperative complications that are related to the perioperative inflammatory process.