[Bronchial lavage in the treatment of status asthmaticus]

Bronchial lavage was performed in 10 cases with status asthmaticus who were mechanically ventilated. The mean value of PaCO2 was 64.4 +/- 17.4 Torr before bronchial lavage, and it significantly decreased to 51.9 +/- 11.0 Torr after lavage. In 7 out the 10 cases, bronchial lavage was judged to be effective from the clinical point of view. In 5 cases with values of PaCO2 of over 55 Torr before lavage, massive mucus plugs were recovered. Bronchial lavage was judged to be effective in all of them, whereas three out of the another five cases whose values of PaCO2 were less than 55 Torr showed exacerbation of hypercapnia, and the state of asthma worsened and/or continued for a longer period. The ratio of PaO2/FiO2 did not improve even in effective cases. These results indicated that bronchial lavage is a useful tool to improve the hypercapnic state in patient with status asthmaticus being mechanically ventilated, if the value of PaCO2 is over 55 Torr.