Abstract
Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the use of a video double-lumen tube reduced the need for fiberoptic bronchoscopy for (1) verification of initial tube placement and for (2) reverification of correct placement after repositioning for thoracotomy. Design A single-center retrospective study. Setting Thoracic surgery in a medical university hospital. Participants & Interventions After institutional review board approval, 29 patients who underwent thoracic surgical procedures using video double-lumen tubes were included in the final retrospective analysis. Measurements and Main Results For 27 (93.2%) patients, the use of fiberoptic bronchoscopy was not needed either for initial placement or for verification of correct video double-lumen tube placement upon final positioning of the patient. However, for two patients, fiberoptic bronchoscopy was needed: for (1) one patient with severe left mainstem bronchus distortion as a result of a large left upper lobe tumor, and (2) a second patient with secretions that were difficult to clear. Conclusion This study demonstrates that the video double-lumen tube requires significantly less (6.8%) fiberoptic use for both initial placement and verification of final position, in stark contrast to standard practice in which bronchoscopy is always used to verify final positioning of the double-lumen tube. As opposed to intermittent bronchoscopy, the continuous visualization offered by an embedded camera may confer an added measure of safety.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 870-872 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia |
Volume | 28 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 2014 |
Keywords
- double-lumen tubes
- fiberoptic bronchoscopy
- fiberoptics
- one-lung ventilation
- thoracic anesthesia
- thoracic surgery
- video-double-lumen endobronchial tube
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
- Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine