Purpose: To describe the anesthetic and ventilatory management of an infant with diffuse pulmonary bullous lesions.
Clinical features: Four successive operations were scheduled for an infant with diffuse pulmonary bullous lesions. At the age of seven weeks, conventional positive pressure ventilation during laparotomy for intestinal occlusion led to arterial desaturation. This was corrected by returning to spontaneous respiration and deep inhalation anesthesia with halothane. Based on our ICU experience and due to a potential impaired oxygenation during conventional ventilation, we chose high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) for bilateral sequential thoracotomies for bullectomies at the age of five months. We elected the same ventilatory mode for laparotomy for intestinal obstruction secondary to a polyp at the age of six months. This ventilatory mode was combined with total intravenous anesthesia and epidural analgesia and provided optimal oxygenation and ventilation as well as vital signs stability.
Conclusion: High frequency oscillatory ventilation is a safe technique that may be used in the operating room in cases where conventional ventilation failed to provide satisfactory gas exchange.