Surgical procedure
Postoperative pain, PONV
During the procedure, a 3.5 cm incision was made in the anterior axillary line at the 4th intercostal space for upper lobe resection and at the 5th intercostal space for middle and inferior lobe resection. A thoracoscope was used along with specific surgical instruments and either harmonic shear or hook electro-cautery. The bronchus, vein, and artery were dissected separately using an endolinear stapler or ligated with hem-o-loks. The specimen was then placed in a specimen bag. Subsequently, the surgeons sutured the incision after sufficient hemostasis.Postoperative pain management followed a standardized protocol for all patients. This included a combination of 5 mcg sufentanil and 50 mg flurbiprofen axetil administered 30 mins before the surgery ended, as well as a daily intravenous infusion of 50 mg flurbiprofen axetil for postoperative analgesia. Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) was implemented using a 24-h infusion of sufentanil 1 mcg/ml solution. The PCA protocol included an infusion rate of 2 ml/h, a 2 ml bolus dose, a lockout time of 15 mins, and a maximum limit of 10 ml/h. The criterion for initiating PCA treatment was a numerical rating scale (NRS) score > 2. Oxycodone 5 mg/acetaminophen 325 mg was available as a rescue analgesic agent. Intravenous tropisetron at a dose of 5 mg was administered in the hospital ward for the management of PONV.