[The use of high-frequency jet ventilation for ventilatory support in an extreme case]

We report the case of a 27-year old man given a left lateral thoracotomy for emergency repair of the aortic isthmus, which had partially ruptured as a consequence of chest trauma. The patient also suffered serious trauma to the right lung, such that selective ventilation of that lung had to be applied with the left lung collapsed to allow the surgeon access to the descending aorta. Rapid decrease in SpO2 occurred, with excessively high airway pressures, requiring reinstatement of conventional ventilation of both lungs and interruption of surgery. Conventional ventilation was then replaced by high frequency jet ventilation to both lungs. That technique, combined with intermittent inflation of the left lung (inclined), provided sufficient oxygen as well as a wide and sufficiently immobile surgical field.