Fluoroscopic-assisted endobronchial intubation for single-lung ventilation in infants

Abstract

Objective: Review our institutional experience with an alternative to fiberoptic-guided endobronchial intubation.

Aim: The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to present our experience with the use of fluoroscopy to facilitate endobronchial lung isolation in infants undergoing thoracoscopic procedures.

Background: Anesthesiologists are more frequently being asked to anesthetize infants and small children for thoracoscopic surgery. Typically, endobronchial intubation or bronchial blockers are utilized to achieve lung isolation during these procedures. However, sometimes small and complicated anatomy can make this challenging.

Methods: Respective chart review over a 13-month period of infants undergoing thoracoscopic excision of congenital lung lesions at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Rate of success in achieving lung isolation along with time of fluoroscopy exposure were recorded.

Results: Twenty infants had thoracoscopic lung surgery attempted during the period of the review. Lung isolation was successfully achieved in all of the patients. The average exposure to fluoroscopy was 83.7 s (range 20-320 s).

Conclusions: Fluoroscopic aided lung isolation is a reliable and effective alternative method to the use of fiberoptic bronchoscope for endobronchial intubation in infants.