Impact of an Open Lung Extubation Strategy on Postoperative Pulmonary Complications

Summary

Perioperative respiratory complications are a major source of morbidity and mortality. Postoperative atelectasis plays a central role in their development. Protective "open lung" mechanical ventilation aims to minimize the occurrence of atelectasis during the perioperative period. Randomized controlled studies have been performed comparing various "open lung" ventilation protocols, but these studies report varying and conflicting effects. The interpretation of these studies is complicated by the absence of imagery supporting the pulmonary impact associated with the use of different ventilation strategies. Imaging studies suggest that the gain in pulmonary gas content in "open lung" ventilation regimens disappears within minutes after the extubation. Thus, the potential benefits of open-lung ventilation appear to be lost if, at the time of extubation, no measures are used to keep the lungs well aerated. Recent expert recommendations on good mechanical ventilation practices in the operating room conclude that there is actually no quality study on extubation.

Extubation is a very common practice for anesthesiologists as part of their daily clinical practice. It is therefore imperative to generate evidence on good clinical practice during anesthetic emergence in order to potentially identify an effective extubation strategy to reduce postoperative pulmonary complications.

Conditions

• Anesthesia
• Pulmonary Atelectasis
• Complication of Anesthesia

Interventions

OTHER

Open lung extubation

Before starting emergence from anesthesia, the patient will be transferred to their hospital bed or stretcher and seated at 30 degrees. Secretions from the patients' oropharynx will be suctioned. To prevent the patient from coughing, the anesthetic gas or intravenous agent will be stopped after the transfer and suction procedure are completed. The FiO2 will be maintained at the same level or increased to 50% (minimum FiO2) with a fresh gas flow rate greater than or equal to 10 L.min-1. The ventilation mode will be changed to pressure support. The level of pressure support will be modified by the anesthesiologist to generate the same volumes as with controlled ventilation. The PEEP will be maintained at the same level. The minimum respiratory rate will be reduced by 4 min-1. The inspiratory flow for triggering will be 2 L.min-1.

OTHER

Conventional extubation

Before starting emergence from anesthesia, the patient will be transferred to his hospital bed or stretcher and kept in the supine position. Secretions from the patients' oropharynx will be suctioned. To prevent the patient from coughing, the anesthetic gas or intravenous agent will be stopped after the transfer and suction procedure are completed. The FiO2 will be increased to 100% with a fresh gas flow rate greater than or equal to 10 L.min-1. The ventilator will be stopped with the APL valve open to atmosphere. The patient will be manually ventilated with the reservoir bag until spontaneous ventilation resumes. Then, the patient may be manually assisted if the treating anesthesiologist deems it necessary.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Martin Girard, MD, FRCPC · Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-11-03

Primary Completion

2021-12-17

Completion

2022-01-17

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations