one-lung anesthesia

one-lung anesthesia

One-lung general anesthesia Anesthesiology
A technique used in thoracic surgery, in which a double-ballooned, double-lumened tube is passed into the trachea and the airflow to mainstem bronchi is blocked by either inflating a balloon or with a mechanical endobronchial 'blocker'; OLA is usually performed on the dependent–'down' lung, while the airflow to the 'up' lung is blocked to improve the ease of surgery Absolute indications Isolation of airflow–eg, in bronchopleural fistula, unilateral abscess or hemorrhage Complications Trauma resulting in edema, misplacement of tubes causing asphyxia, perforation resulting in bronchopleural fistula, V/Q mismatch resulting in ↓ O₂, ↑ CO₂