One-lung ventilation with fixed and variable tidal volumes on oxygenation and pulmonary outcomes: A randomized trial.

OBJECTIVE: Test the hypothesis that one-lung ventilation with variable tidal volume improves intraoperative oxygenation and reduces postoperative pulmonary complications after lung resection. BACKGROUND: Constant tidal volume and respiratory rate ventilation can lead to atelectasis. Animal and human ARDS studies indicate that oxygenation improves with variable tidal volumes. Since one-lung ventilation shares characteristics with ARDS, we tested the hypothesis that one-lung ventilation with variable tidal volume improves intraoperative oxygenation and reduces postoperative pulmonary complications after lung resection. DESIGN: Randomized trial. SETTING: Operating rooms and a post-anesthesia care unit. PATIENTS: Adults having elective open or video-assisted thoracoscopic lung resection surgery with general anesthesia were randomly assigned to intraoperative ventilation with fixed (n = 70) or with variable (n = 70) tidal volumes. INTERVENTIONS: Patients assigned to fixed ventilation had a tidal volume of 6 ml/kgPBW, whereas those assigned to variable ventilation had tidal volumes ranging from 6 ml/kg PBW ± 33% which varied randomly at 5-min intervals. MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was intraoperative oxygenation; secondary outcomes were postoperative pulmonary complications, mortality within 90 days of surgery, heart rate, and SpO2/FiO2 ratio. RESULTS: Data from 128 patients were analyzed with 65 assigned to fixed-tidal volume ventilation and 63 to variable-tidal volume ventilation. The time-weighted average PaO2 during one-lung ventilation was 176 (86) mmHg in patients ventilated with fixed-tidal volume and 147 (72) mmHg in the patients ventilated with variable-tidal volume, a difference that was statistically significant (p < 0.01) but less than our pre-defined clinically meaningful threshold of 50 mmHg. At least one composite complication occurred in 11 (17%) of patients ventilated with variable-tidal volume and in 17 (26%) of patients assigned to fixed-tidal volume ventilation, with a relative risk of 0.67 (95% CI 0.34-1.31, p = 0.24). Atelectasis in the ventilated lung was less common with variable-tidal volumes (4.7%) than fixed-tidal volumes (20%) in the initial three postoperative days, with a relative risk of 0.24 (95% CI 0.01-0.8, p = 0.02), but there were no significant late postoperative differences. No other secondary outcomes were both statistically significant and clinically meaningful. CONCLUSION: One-lung ventilation with variable tidal volume does not meaningfully improve intraoperative oxygenation, and does not reduce postoperative pulmonary complications.

Anesthesia and perioperative considerations for patients with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection / Korábban SARS-CoV-2-fertozésen átesett betegek mutéti érzéstelenítése és perioperatív ellátása

The timing of elective surgery is very important in patients, who suffered SARS-CoV-2 virus infection. According to a study of more than 100,000 patients, it takes approximately seven weeks to be safely admitted to elective surgery. In the case of emergency surgeries, the date of the surgery should be considered based on the patient's general condition and the expected improvement from the surgery. Surgery with a vital indication takes the greatest risk, as there is very little time and opportunity for preoperative examination in these cases. SARS-CoV-2 virus infection does not go away without a trace. Complications may include cardiopulmonary, coagulation, central nervous system, locomotor problems, acute renal failure, ionic and diabetic disorders, and gastrointestinal abnormalities, which may be short-term or long-term, and in some cases permanent. The preoperative examination strategy, the method of anesthesia (general or regional) and the intraoperative monitoring should be chosen according to the severity of these complications and the type of surgery. In the postoperative period, patients suffered with SARS-CoV-2 virus infection may require more frequent monitoring or intensive ward monitoring.