Independent lung ventilation in the intensive care unit: desperate measure or viable treatment option?

Independent lung ventilation is often used intra-operatively but has also been used in intensive care in a variety of clinical situations. Ventilating lungs independently of each other may be life-saving when a lung abnormality is predominantly unilateral. We successfully used independent lung ventilation in two patients, who benefited from anatomical and physiological separation of their lungs. These cases remind intensivists that independent lung ventilation is a viable option to be considered in cases of pulmonary abnormality when conventional mechanical ventilation is deleterious.