ArticleAnnals of thoracic surgery short reports2026
Intercostal Nerve Cryoablation and Pain Outcomes in Robotic Lung Surgery.
Article in Annals of thoracic surgery short reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Multicenter, real-world patient registry outcomes from intercostal nerve cryoablation during robotic-assisted thoracic surgical procedures.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Pain after robot-assisted thoracoscopic lung surgery is a contributing factor to postoperative complications and patient satisfaction. Cryoablation of the intercostal nerves temporarily disrupts nerve function and decreases pain. We evaluated the effect of cryoablation of the intercostal nerves on postoperative pain and opioid use. Methods: We performed a retrospective single-institution analysis of patients who underwent robot-assisted thoracoscopic lung surgery, with or without cryoablation between 2019 and 2022. We analyzed demographics, postoperative pain scores using a Likert scale, opioid use, postoperative complications, length of stay, and readmission. Results: Robot-assisted thoracoscopic lung surgery was performed in 230 patients, and 39 (17%) patients underwent cryoablation. Pain scores for the cryoablation group were lower at 12 hours (0 vs 2, Conclusions: Cryoablation of multilevel intercostal nerves has higher pain levels at 5 weeks without significant differences in the outcomes. This may be due to an increase in neuroma formation at multiple levels from the cryoablation.
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Registered trials
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