Innovations in Lung Cancer Care: Single-Anesthesia Bronchoscopy and Resection

Riverside Health System's Single-Anesthesia Bronchoscopy and Resection (SABR) streamlines care by combining bronchoscopic localization and lung resection into a single anesthetic session, shortening time to definitive treatment and reducing duplicated procedures.

Historically, bronchoscopic localization and definitive resection have required separate scheduling, multiple preoperative assessments, and distinct anesthetic exposures. Riverside's single-anesthesia workflow aligns interventional pulmonology, thoracic surgery, anesthesiology, and perioperative coordination into one planned episode—an approach that may increase the likelihood of timely curative therapy for appropriately selected patients.

At Riverside, preoperative planning centers on imaging review, patient selection, and synchronized scheduling. Their intraoperative sequence begins with bronchoscopic marker placement using single-anesthesia bronchoscopy, followed immediately by minimally invasive wedge or segmental resection (VATS or robotic) under the same anesthetic. Successful execution requires dedicated equipment, cross-discipline prebriefs, and coordinated OR block management to preserve flow and safety.

Combining procedures reduces cumulative anesthesia exposure and shortens the interval between diagnosis and definitive therapy, which may lower aggregate physiologic risk. Riverside reports shorter hospital stays in preliminary experience and no observed increase in readmissions when patients are carefully selected and standardized protocols are followed. ; published outcome data were not cited in the source report.

Barriers to adoption include scheduling complexity, high resource needs, and staff training. Practical mitigation strategies used by the program include prespecified checklists, simulation-based team training, and explicit selection algorithms targeting early-stage peripheral lesions. On balance, the net risk–benefit profile favors centers with existing multidisciplinary capacity and a commitment to structured implementation.

Key Takeaways:

• Riverside's SABR combines bronchoscopic marking and resection in one anesthetic for eligible patients, shortening diagnostic-to-treatment intervals.
• Early-stage lung cancer patients and multidisciplinary teams may benefit from fewer anesthetic exposures and more streamlined care pathways.