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Bronchial fistulae in ARDS patients: management with an extracorporeal lung assist device

¹ Dept of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Campus Virchow-Klinikum and Campus Mitte, ³ Dept of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, and ² Dept of Thoracic Surgery and Intensive Care Medicine, Hospital Großhansdorf, Großhansdorf, Germany.

CORRESPONDENCE: S. Weber-Carstens, Dept. of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Virchow-Klinikum and Campus Mitte, Augustenburger Platz 1, D-13353 Berlin, Germany. Fax: 49 30450551909. E-mail: steffen.weber-carstens{at}charite.de

Keywords: Acute respiratory distress syndrome, bronchial fistula, extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal, mechanical ventilation, pumpless extracorporeal lung assist device

Received: February 11, 2008
Accepted August 4, 2008

Patients with bronchial tree lesions feature, in particular, a high risk for developing bronchial fistulae after surgical repair when the clinical situation is complicated by acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and mechanical ventilation is needed. The current authors hypothesised that extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal would significantly decrease inspiratory airway pressures, thus promoting the protection of surgical bronchial reconstruction.

Four patients were studied after surgical reconstruction of bronchial fistulae in whom ALI/ARDS developed and mechanical ventilation with positive end-expiratory pressure was required. Gas exchange, tidal volumes, airway pressures, respiratory frequency, vasopressor and sedation requirements were analysed before and after initiation of a pumpless extracorporeal lung assist device (pECLA; NovaLung®, Talheim, Germany). Initiation of pECLA treatment enabled a reduction of inspiratory plateau airway pressures from 32.4 to 28.6 cmH₂O (3.2 to 2.8 kPa), effectively treated hypercapnia (from 73.6 to 53.4 mmHg (9.8 to 7.1 kPa)) and abolished respiratory acidosis (from pH 7.24 to 7.41). All patients survived and were discharged to rehabilitation clinics.

In patients after surgical bronchial reconstruction that was complicated by acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome, use of pumpless extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal was safe and efficient. Initiation of a pumpless extracorporeal lung assist device enabled a less invasive ventilator management, which may have contributed to healing of surgical bronchial repair.