Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS): Procedural Guide for Physician Assistants

The goal of this procedural guide is to provide a thoracic physician assistant (PA) with the knowledge to help perform as a valuable and productive assistant or camera pilot in VATS cases.

OBJECTIVES

Upon completing this online course, the thoracic PA will be able to:

• Identify essential equipment and instrumentation required for a VATS case
• Describe how to properly position and mark a patient for a VATS case
• Describe how VATS equipment, instruments, and surgical team are set up in the OR
• Define the roles and tasks of assistant/camera pilot in a VATS case
• Recall 10 VATS operative scenarios and their corresponding assisting maneuvers