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Breast cancer surgery can benefit from regional anaesthesia techniques, which can be used as a sole anaesthetic procedure in some cases where risk for general anaesthesia is high. Regional anaesthesia allows early recovery, reduces postoperative opioid and non opioid analgesics consumption and helps early home discharge, reducing thus costs. We present a case of an 87-year-old woman with multiple comorbidities who underwent breast cancer surgery. The patient was successfully surgically treated under serratus intercostal plane block anaesthesia. We discuss the use and benefits of the serratus intercostal plane block in thoracic procedures., (Copyright © 2018 Sociedad Española de Anestesiología, Reanimación y Terapéutica del Dolor. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To assess current management of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) extending into the inferior vena cava (IVC): staging, diagnosis, surgical approach, adjuvant therapy, prognostic factors and survival rate., Materials and Methods: Nineteen cases of RCC extending into the IVC undergoing surgical resection from January 1988 to August 2008 were reviewed. TNM staging and Neves-Zincke grading of the tumor were also assessed. Surgical approach depended on thrombus level., Results: With a perioperative mortality rate of 10.5% and a mean follow-up of 22.65 months (range 2-79), 5 patients are still alive, while 11 patients died from the disease, 1 from an unrelated cause, and 2 were lost to follow-up. Patients with metastatic disease received adjuvant treatment with immunotherapy or kinase inhibitors. Mean survival was 15.1 months. Significant differences were found in 3- and 5-year survival rates in patients staged as N0M0 as compared to all other stages (N+M0, N0M+, N+M+). No differences were found depending on thrombus level., Conclusions: RCC with thrombus in the IVC is a tumor with a high mortality rate. Surgery continues to be the best option, and requires adequate preoperative evaluation and the support of an experienced and well trained multidisciplinary team. Survival depends on disease extension.