Background:

the exponential progress of thoracic surgery has a parallel development to anesthetic and imaging techniques; since ancient times, attempts to address this body space are collected in different manuscripts.

Objective:

to describe the technique of video-mediastinoscopy, as well as the anatomical references for its performance.

Methods:

a description of the technique of video-mediastinoscopy for the excision and biopsy of mediastinal alterations was made, based on personal experience and bibliographic consultation. The international repositories Ebsco, Medline and Cochrane were consulted to obtain references related to the subject.

Conclusions:

video-mediastinoscopy is a safe and useful route for lung cancer staging which also provides a more accurate pathological classification than conventional thoracotomies by allowing access to the upper, aortic and subcarinal ganglionic areas as appropriate.

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