The Use of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Life-Threatening Foreign Body Aspiration: Case Series, Review of Extracorporeal Life Support Organization Registry Data, and Systematic Literature Review

Spanish Society of Anesthesiology, Reanimation and Pain Therapy (SEDAR), Spanish Society of Emergency and Emergency Medicine (SEMES) and Spanish Society of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery (SEORL-CCC) Guideline for difficult airway management. Part II

The Airway Management section of the Spanish Society of Anesthesiology, Resuscitation, and Pain Therapy (SEDAR), the Spanish Society of Emergency Medicine (SEMES), and the Spanish Society of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery (SEORL-CCC) present the Guide for the comprehensive management of difficult airway in adult patients. Its principles are focused on the human factors, cognitive processes for decision-making in critical situations, and optimization in the progression of strategies application to preserve adequate alveolar oxygenation in order to enhance safety and the quality of care. The document provides evidence-based recommendations, theoretical-educational tools, and implementation tools, mainly cognitive aids, applicable to airway management in the fields of anesthesiology, critical care, emergencies, and prehospital medicine. For this purpose, an extensive literature search was conducted following PRISMA-R guidelines and was analyzed using the GRADE methodology. Recommendations were formulated according to the GRADE methodology. Recommendations for sections with low-quality evidence were based on expert opinion through consensus reached via a Delphi questionnaire.

Use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for bronchoscopic removal of a tracheal foreign body in a child

BACKGROUND

Bronchoscopic removal of a foreign body is a common emergency procedure in paediatric otolaryngology. It is potentially life-threatening, as complete airway obstruction caused by the foreign body can lead to hypoxic cardiac arrest during the manipulation of the object.

CASE REPORT

This paper presents a child who had aspirated a foreign body that could not be extracted conventionally via rigid bronchoscopy in the first instance. Subsequently, it was extracted at repeat bronchoscopy under controlled respiratory conditions maintained by an extracorporeal gas exchange circuit - extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, using a polypropylene hollow fibre oxygenator commonly employed in cardiac surgery (rather than a more expensive polymethyl pentene oxygenator commonly used in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation).

CONCLUSION

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use can be considered in exceptional cases of upper airway emergencies, even in resource-poor settings, and can avoid more hazardous thoracotomy and bronchotomy procedures.

Case report: Foreign body aspiration requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

Introduction

Foreign body aspiration is a common cause of respiratory distress in pediatrics, but the diagnosis can be challenging given aspirated objects are mostly radiolucent on chest radiographs and there is often no witnessed choking event. We present a case of a patient who was initially managed as severe status asthmaticus, requiring veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) for refractory hypercarbia and hypoxemia, but was later found to have bilateral bronchial foreign body aspiration. This case is unique in its severity of illness, diagnostic dilemma with findings suggesting a more common diagnosis of asthma, and use of ECMO as a bridge to diagnosis and recovery.

Patient case

A previously healthy 2-year-old boy presented during peak viral season with a 3-day history of fever, cough, coryza, and increased work of breathing over the prior 24 h. There was no reported history of choking or aspiration. He was diagnosed with asthma and treated with bronchodilator therapy. Physical examination revealed pulsus paradoxus, severe work of breathing with bilateral wheeze, and at times a silent chest. Chest radiographs showed bilateral lung hyperinflation. Following a brief period of stability on maximum bronchodilator therapies and bilevel positive pressure support, the patient had a rapid deterioration requiring endotracheal intubation, with subsequent cannulation to VA-ECMO. A diagnostic flexible bronchoscopy was performed and demonstrated bilateral foreign bodies, peanuts, in the right bronchus intermedius and the left mainstem bronchus. Removal of the foreign bodies was done by rigid bronchoscopy facilitating rapid wean from VA-ECMO and decannulation within 24 h of foreign body removal.

Conclusion

Foreign body aspiration should be suspected in all patients presenting with atypical history and physical examination findings, or in patients with suspected common diagnoses who do not progress as expected or deteriorate after a period of stability. Extracorporeal life support can be used as a bridge to diagnosis and recovery in patients with hemodynamic or respiratory instability.

Child requiring tracheostomy for removal of an airway foreign body at the tracheal bifurcation

Airway foreign bodies are typically removed orally using a rigid bronchoscope. We present a rare case of a foreign body at the tracheal bifurcation that required removal via tracheostomy. A child turned pale while eating nuts and was suspected to have choked on a foreign body. CT revealed a foreign body at the tracheal bifurcation. As his respiratory condition was unstable, tracheal intubation and removal were attempted using a rigid bronchoscope. Tracheal obstruction during oral removal resulted in respiratory failure and bradycardia. Following emergency tracheostomy, the foreign body was removed via the tracheal stoma after his respiratory condition stabilised. The patient was discharged 21 days later without neurological sequelae. To avoid hypoxaemia during airway foreign body removal, as in this case, assessing the size of the upper airway and foreign body is necessary. Tracheostomy and foreign body removal through the tracheal opening should be considered proactively.

Venovenous extra corporeal life support in an infant with foreign body aspiration: A case report

Background

Foreign body aspiration (FBA) is a life-threatening emergency and a common cause of morbidity and morbidity in children. FBA can lead to rapidly progressive respiratory failure. Stabilizing patients after FBA for bronchoscopic removal of the aspirated object can be complex and may necessitate advanced support such as high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). This case report presents the feasibility of using ultrasound (US) in percutaneous catheterization in infants and the benefit of using venovenous ECMO (VV-ECMO) as rescue therapy in FBA.

Case summary

A 10-month-old girl accidently aspirated a metallic piece that was dislodged further to the right main bronchus after failed trials to remove it. She was intubated and mechanically ventilated, complicated by milk aspiration and bilateral pneumothoraces secondary to high-pressure lung ventilation. She had refractory mixed respiratory failure despite high settings of HFOV and inhaled nitric oxide. Venovenous ECMO (VV-ECMO) was initiated for stabilization and a bridge for bronchoscopic foreign body removal and awaiting lung recovery. She was weaned off ECMO after 166 hours. The patient was extubated after a few days and discharged home 28 days after admission without clinical evidence of neurological or respiratory complications. ECMO has been described in the literature as rescue therapy for FBA resulting in respiratory failure. However, ECMO cannulation in children under these circumstances is challenging because of vessel size restrictions. Two-vessel cannulation or dual-lumen cannulation are available options via open cut-down or percutaneous cannulation techniques, depending on the general expertise. The use of vascular ultrasound to assess vessel size is a helpful tool for cannulating infants.

Conclusion

VV-ECMO support is expanding for respiratory failure in pediatric patients. Percutaneous cannulation in infants and children for VV-ECMO is safe and feasible.

Adult with mass burnt lime aspiration: A case report and literature review

BACKGROUND

Foreign body aspiration mainly occurs in children, which can cause a severe concurrent syndrome and even death without timely treatment. As a rare foreign body, aspiration of lime is seldom reported, and most cases involve a small amount of hydrated lime. Although the symptoms are usually severe, the prognosis is good after suitable treatment. Experience of treatment for lime aspiration is lacking, and this report provides novel evidence for treatment of mass burnt lime aspiration using bronchoscopy.

CASE SUMMARY

We report an adult with a large amount of burnt lime aspiration. Because of delay in clearance of the inhaled lime in the trachea and bronchus at the local hospital, he suffered several severe complications, including complete occlusion of the right primary bronchus, aeropleura, aerodermectasia, pneumomediastinum, secondary infection and hypoxemia at 4 d after injury. After transferring to our department, bronchoscopy was immediately carried out to clear the lime in the major airway, using foreign body forceps, biopsy forceps, puncture needle, and hairbrush. The patient’s condition recovered rapidly and at 3-months’ follow-up, he demonstrated good recovery of the bronchus and lung parenchyma.

CONCLUSION

After mass lime aspiration, flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy is suggested as early as possible, using clamping, flushing or cryotherapy.

An Unusual Complication of Electronic Cigarette Use: Missed Inhaled Foreign Body Causing Acute Respiratory Failure

We present a case of a young woman who was admitted to the hospital with persistent pneumonia and cough productive of purulent green sputum. She was admitted to the intensive care unit due to type 1 respiratory failure. Chest computerised tomography (CT) showed a large right-sided hydropneumothorax, for which a right-sided chest drain was inserted. Despite intubation, oxygenation continued to deteriorate and the patient was commenced on veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and transferred to the regional ECMO centre. Bronchoscopy revealed a plastic coil from an electronic cigarette at the entrance to the right lower lobe. Following its removal, the patient’s condition rapidly improved and she was successfully weaned from ECMO and discharged from the cardiothoracic critical care unit. There are very few reports of tracheobronchial foreign body (FB) aspiration secondary to electronic cigarette use, and tracheobronchial FB aspiration in adults requiring veno-venous ECMO to treat respiratory failure is uncommon. This case highlights the importance of considering tracheobronchial FB aspiration as a potential diagnosis in patients who present with more than two weeks of pneumonia not responding to treatment.

An experience of subglottic airway foreign body removal in a patient under tracheal intubation: a case report

Background

Removal of an airway foreign body is challenging to anesthesiologists. We report successful removal of an extremely rare foreign body between a tracheal tube and the trachea in patients under tracheal intubation.

Case presentation

A 57-year-old male received total aortic arch replacement and postoperative mechanical ventilation. An airway foreign body was detected just below the glottis, outside the tracheal tube during mechanical ventilation after surgery in the intensive care unit. Before the removal procedure, we planned multiple strategies to cope with unexpected airway and breathing troubles. As a result, the foreign body was successfully removed orally by using a bronchial fiber, without extubation of the tracheal tube, under general anesthesia with dexmedetomidine and ketamine.

Conclusions

We reported the successful removal of a foreign body in the subglottic airway of a patient under tracheal intubation.

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome immediately following the removal of an aspirated foreign body

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is a form of diffuse lung injury with many potential etiologies, pneumonia being the most common cause developing outside of the hospital. Foreign body (FB) aspiration is a risk factor for pneumonia, and therefore, ARDS. Although these associations exist, the development of ARDS immediately following the removal of an aspirated FB appears quite rare.

We present the case of an 11 year old male who was found to have a right-sided, post-obstructive pneumonia secondary to an aspirated FB obstructing the bronchus intermedius. Relief of the obstruction allowed for rapid, endobronchial spread of infection and within 6 hours of FB removal, our patient developed severe ARDS requiring initiation of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Streptococcus constellatus was isolated from lower respiratory cultures obtained during initial bronchoscopy.