Use of two Endotracheal Tubes to Perform Lung Isolation and One-Lung Ventilation in a Patient With Tracheostomy Stenosis: A Case Report

INTRODUCTION: Lung isolation is a common technique used in thoracic surgery to prevent spillage to unaffected lung and to provide a better view for the surgeon. CASE PRESENTATION: A 41-year-old woman with a history of pharyngo-laryngo-oesophagectomy (PLO) and tracheostomy was a candidate for thoracic duct ligation because of chylothorax. Since the patient had tracheostmy stomal stenosis, two cuffed tracheal tubes (internal diameter = 4.5 mm) were used; one tube was placed in the right bronchus and the other tube in the left one by fiberoptic laryngoscopy in 10 minutes. Right lung was collapsed during the surgery for 3.5 hours with a slight decrease in oxygenation (SpO(2) = 91%–93%) and with no evident hemodynamic change. Potential trauma from a double-lumen tube and a bronchial blocker as well as inaccessibility to a univent tube prevented us to use these standard methods in this case. CONCLUSIONS: This report presents a new method for lung isolation in specific cases and in the absence of certain equipment.