Assessing Provider Adherence To A Lung Protective Ventilation Protocol In Patients Undergoing Thoracic Surgery Using...

Patients undergoing one-lung ventilation (OLV) are at risk for lung injury leading to postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs). Lung protective ventilation (LPV) challenges traditional anesthetic management by using lower tidal volumes, individualized positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP), and recruitment maneuvers (RMs). LPV reduces driving pressure when properly applied, which reduces the incidence of PPCs. An LPV protocol was developed and implemented for this study for patients undergoing one-lung ventilation. Knowledge and confidence were measured prior to, immediately following, and 12 weeks after an educational offering and distribution of cognitive aids. Clinical data were collected 12 weeks prior to implementation, immediately after implementation, and again at 12 weeks post-implementation. There was a significant increase in provider knowledge regarding LPV (P = .015). A significant adherence to monitoring driving pressures (P < .05) was observed at 12 weeks post-implementation. There were increases in adherence to each component (tidal volume, PEEP, RM, and FiO₂) as well as overall adherence (P = .356). Implementation of the protocol resulted in increased adherence to lung protective strategies, including a statistically significant decrease (P < 0.05) in driving pressure which has been shown to reduce complications in patients having thoracic surgery with OLV.