Cardiothoracic anesthesiology is a subspeciality of the medical practice of anesthesiology devoted to the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative care of adult patients undergoing cardiothoracic surgery and related invasive procedures.
It deals with the anesthesia aspects of care related to surgical cases such as, but not limited to, open heart surgery, lung surgery, and other operations of the human chest. These aspects include perioperative care with expert manipulation patient cardiopulmonary physiology through precise and advanced application of pharmacology, resuscitative techniques, critical care medicine, and invasive procedures. This also includes management of the cardiopulmonary bypass (heart-lung) machine, which most cardiac procedures require intraoperatively while the heart undergoes surgical correction.
Read more about Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology: Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology Fellowship (U.S.), Echocardiography (TTE and TEE), Cardio-pulmonary Bypass (CPB), Role of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiologists in Non-cardiac Surgery