Permissive hypercapnia with high-frequency oscillatory ventilation and one-lung isolation for intraoperative management of lung resection in a patient with multiple bronchopleural fistulae.

We report the use of high-frequency oscillatory ventilation in the operating room during repair of multiple bronchopleural fistulae in a 9-year-old boy. In addition, we used principles of permissive hypercapnia to further minimize barotrauma. There were no cardiovascular consequences due to either the high-frequency ventilation or the permissive hypercapnia. Our goals in employing this strategy were to minimize barotrauma, minimize gas flow through the fistulae, and optimize the surgical results.