Life-Saving Lung Ventilation Procedure was done on a 24-year-old athlete using two Ventilators

 Independent Lung ventilation procedure was provided to both the lungs with different targets for the patient

 Doctors at Prashanth Super Specialty Hospital, Kolathur performed a rare life-saving procedure on a 24-year-old male athlete and mountaineer. It was a distinctive case where doctors deployed two ventilators to revive his health back to normal.

The patient first accompanied his mother who had Respiratory failure and needed immediate medical attention. After his mother’s health condition stabilized, he approached the Emergency Response Team in the same hospital with symptoms of breathlessness when he climbed stairs which was unusual for a person at that age. His clinical examination revealed a probable right lung infection with normal oxygen levels.

Doctors noticed that his oxygen levels dropped up to 85% and his heart rate went up to 150 with minor exertion during the 6-minute Walk Test. He was visibly breathless and had to stop the test and moved to ER. He recovered rapidly and a quick USG chest diagnostic examination confirmed Right lung pneumonia. CT scan was done for rapid assessment, and it revealed a massive pneumothorax (airlock) within his lung and a compressed right lung with the consolidation of the right lower lobe.

A senior team of experts from Prashanth Super speciality Hospitals, Dr Raja Saravanan, Senior Consultant Anaesthesia and Critical care and Dr Kailash V, Clinical lead Anaesthesia and Critical care performed this with a focused approach with clinical precision by carefully taking care of the lungs with adequate nursing care.

Dr Raja Saravanan, Senior Consultant Anaesthesia and Critical care said that “We had to take an unconventional route to save the patient’s life. His family was understanding and we explained the complexities involved in the ECMO procedure and Independent Lung Ventilation Independent Lung Ventilation procedure is more beneficial, After insertion of Intercostal tube to drain the Air from his lung the patient developed reexpansion pulmonary edema which means the expanding lung is filling up with water leaking out of his blood vessels. Conventional treatment includes step-up in oxygen therapy and Non-invasive ventilation. Both were tried and it failed to improve his oxygen levels. We had to move to Invasive form of Ventilation to improve his oxygen levels and maintain within safe limits. fluid and infection from his right lung. Independent lung ventilation is a technique where the lungs are isolated and ventilated by two different ventilators. In our patient, the diseased right lung needed a different strategy to protect it and the left lung required a different strategy to improve the patient’s oxygenation. We proceeded to isolate both the lungs with a Double lumen tube and ventilate both the lungs with two different ventilators with different targets. The aim of ventilating the right lung is to protect it from further collapsing and recruit as the disease involves only one lung and the left lung is not able to function adequately due to spillage of the collapsed lung gradually while the aim of ventilating the left lung is to improve his oxygenation. We carried out this procedure successfully and the patient recovered well”

Dr Kailash V, Clinical lead Anaesthesia and Intensive care elaborated further “Post the Independent lung ventilation, where the lungs are isolated and ventilated by two ventilators, we were able to switch to conventional ventilation after 48H. Since the right lung needed a different strategy to protect it from the left in order to improve the patient’s oxygenation, we focused on stabilizing his condition. We changed the tube to a single lumen tube and repeated the bronchoscopy which confirmed gross infection involving the right lung. We were able to remove maximum debris from both lungs”.

Dr Pari Muthukumar, Medical Superintendent, Prashanth Hospitals stated that “Patient with a collapsed lung (Pneumothorax) is a complex case and life-threatening. It requires immediate medical attention with emergency care. Our team of specialists did an extensive diagnosis and counselled the patient’s family to make them understand the unique procedure involving two ventilators for both lungs. It was a rare case scenario and we followed all the procedures diligently. Our team of doctors and nursing team successfully ensured the recovery of the patient within 15 days”.

After 48 hours the patient discontinued sedation required further care for 2 more days and was shifted out of ICU. He made a complete recovery and was back to his football practice within 3 weeks of recovery. This complex case was handled very deftly by a dedicated critical care team