Thoracotomy is a surgical technique used to reach the thoracic cavity. Management of pain due to thoracotomy is important in order to protect the operative respiratory reserves and decrease complications. For thoracotomy pain, blocks (such as thoracic epidural, paravertebral, etc.) and pleural catheterization and intravenous drugs (such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [NSAIDs], and opioids, etc., can be used. We performed a serratus anterior plane (SAP) block followed by catheterization for thoracotomy pain. We used 20 ml 0.25% bupivacaine for analgesia in a patient who underwent wedge resection for a lung malignancy. We provided analgesia for a period of close to seven hours for the patient, whose postoperative VAS (visual analog scale) scores were recorded. We believe that an SAP block is effective and efficient for the management of pain after thoracotomy.

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Presence of JPD does not decrease the therapeutic success of ERCP. Placement of a guidewire in the pancreatic duct or use of two-devices-in-one-channel are practical, successful, safe, and preferred methods which can be used in patients with failed cannulation by standard technique.

Red cell distribution width (RDW) and Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) are widely available blood tests which can be used to reflect patients' inflammatory status. We investigated the effects of RDW and NLR levels on long-term survival after pulmonary resection for non-small cell lung cancers. Data were compiled retrospectively from 249 patients. We found a significant correlation between higher RDW and NLR levels and poorer prognosis. Overall survival rates of patients with high and normal RDW levels were 42±7 and 84±12 months, respectively (p= 0.019). In addition, disease free survival rates of patients with high and normal RDW levels were 62±6 and 76±4 months (p= 0.047), respectively. When NLR levels were divided into tertiles we observed significantly poorer overall and disease free survival in ascending tertiles. The overall and disease free survival rates in the lower through upper tertiles were; 88±6, 80±6, 50±5 months for overall and 87±6, 77±6, 47±5 months for disease free survival (p< 0.001). In conclusion, the ability to accurately predict sub-sets with poorer outcomes among patients who had undergone pulmonary resection for non-small cell lung cancers is important. RDW and NLR are biomarkers which could influence patients categorization in this regard. Preoperative measurement of these potential markers are simple, adds no additional cost to routine preoperative workup and can be used to identify patients with poorer prognosis. Keywords:Red cell distribution width, Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio, survival, pulmonary resection, non-small cell lung cancer ÖZET Eritrosit Dağılım Genişliği (RDW) ve Nötrofil/Lenfosit Oranının (NLR) Rezeksiyon Uygulanan Küçük Hücreli Dışı Akciğer Kanserli Hastalarda Uzun Dönem Sağkalıma EtkisiEritrosit dağılım genişliği (RDW) ve nötrofil/lenfosit oranı (NLR) yaygın olarak kullanılan ve hastaların inflamatuar durumunu gösteren kan testleridir. Çalışmamızda akciğer rezeksiyonu uygulanan küçük hücreli dışı akciğer kanserli hastalarda bu belirteçlerin uzun dönem sağkalıma etkisini araştırmayı amaçladık. İkiyüz kırkdokuz hastanın verileri retrospektif olarak incelendi. Yüksek RDW ve NLR seviyeleri ile kötü prognoz arasında ciddi bir korelasyon olduğu saptandı. Genel sağkalım yüksek ve normal RDW seviyelerinde sırasıyla 42±7 ile 84±12 ay (p= 0.019) iken hastalıksız sağkalım 62±6 ile 76±4 ay (p= 0.047) olarak hesaplandı. NLR seviyeleri üç ana gruba ayrıldığında, NLR seviyesi yükseldikçe prognozun kötüleştiği gözlemlendi. En alt seviye grubundan üst seviye grubuna gidildikçe genel sağkalım sırasıyla 88±6, 80±6 ve 50±5 ay (p< 0.001), hastalıksız sağkalım ise 87±6, 77±6 ve 47±5 ay (p< 0.001) olarak bulundu.