Perioperative lung protection strategies in cardiothoracic anesthesia: are they useful?

Patients are at risk for several types of lung injury in the perioperative period. These injuries include atelectasis, pneumonia, pneumothorax, bronchopleural fistula, acute lung injury, and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Anesthetic management can cause, exacerbate, or ameliorate most of these injuries. Lung-protective ventilation strategies using more physiologic tidal volumes and appropriate levels of positive end-expiratory pressure can decrease the extent of this injury. This review discusses the effects of mechanical ventilation and its role in ventilator-induced lung injury with specific reference to cardiothoracic anesthesia.