[Thorascopy under local anesthesia (author's transl)].

Thoracoscopy has proved to be a method of investigation which can give important diagnostic information in diseases of the pleura, the diaphragm, the mediastinum, the thoracic wall and in some peripheral pulmonary lesions. Th procedure can be accomplished safely under local anesthesia which has important advantages in the better recognition of certain abnormalities and avoids a general anesthesia in many patients in a poor cardiopulmonary conditions.