Critical care medicine
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Critical care medicine · Aug 1979
Case ReportsA simple technique for managing a bronchopleural fistula while maintaining positive pressure ventilation.
The development of a bronchopleural fistula (BPF) is an infrequent, but potentially devastating complication of positive pressure ventilation. A case report is detailed in which a BPF arose in a patient on controlled ventilation with a PEEP of 22 cm H2O. Within 12 hours, fistula flow was continuous and accounted for 75% of the delivered tidal volume. ⋯ Conventional treatment methods were unsuccessful, and a system was constructed for adding controlled levels of positive pressure ot the pleural space on the side of the BPF. By decreasing the expiratory transpulmonary pressure difference (PEEP minus pleural pressure), the fistula leak was greatly decreased, and PEEP and oxygenation were stabilized. This system can be rapidly constructed at the bedside with equipment routinely available in most hospitals and offers the ability to adjust the expiratory transpulmonary pressure, lung volume, and BPF flow while maintaining positive pressure ventilation with PEEP.
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The medical records of 21 patients with smoke inhalation admitted to a medical ICU (MICU) were reviewed. Of 21 patients, 6 (29%) died. Of 21 patients, 13 (62%) had facial burns and 11 of the 13 (85%) later developed pneumonia. ⋯ The authors conclude that the presence of facial burns is associated with the later development of pneumonia in a high percentage of cases. Pneumonia contributes significantly to the high mortality rate. The need for ventilatory assistance in smoke inhalation patients is associated with a poor prognosis.