Pathophysiology of acute lung injury following esophagectomy

Pharmacological treatment to reduce pulmonary morbidity after esophagectomy

Esophagectomy for esophageal cancer is one of the most invasive procedures in gastrointestinal surgery. An invasive surgical procedure causes postoperative lung injury through the surgical procedure and one-lung ventilation during anesthesia. Lung injury developed by inflammatory response to surgical insults and oxidative stress is associated with pulmonary morbidity after esophagectomy. Postoperative pulmonary complications negatively affect the long-term outcomes; therefore, an effort to reduce lung injury improves overall survival after esophagectomy. Although significant evidence has not been established, various pharmacological treatments for reducing lung injury, such as administration of a corticosteroid, neutrophil elastase inhibitor, and vitamins are considered to have efficacy for pulmonary morbidity. In this review we survey the following topics: mediators during the perioperative periods of esophagectomy and the efficacy of pharmacological therapies for patients with esophagectomy on pulmonary complications.

Rapid-onset acute respiratory distress syndrome after mastectomy in a breast cancer patient: A case report and review of literature

RATIONALE

Postoperative acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) often results in severe morbidity and mortality in surgical patients. The etiology of this condition is complex, especially in cancer patients.

PATIENT CONCERNS

We encountered a 53-year-old woman with left breast cancer, cT1cN2M0, stage IIIA with left axillary lymph node metastasis. She had received chemotherapy with 4 cycles of doxorubicin plus cyclophosphamide, and 4 cycles of trastuzumab plus docetaxel within a span of 6 months. Subsequently, she underwent left simple mastectomy and axillary lymph node dissection, shortly after which she developed respiratory distress with progressive desaturation and hemoptysis.

DIAGNOSIS

ARDS was diagnosed using the Berlin criteria. Her arterial blood gas analysis revealed profound hypoxemia and her chest imaging was suggestive of pulmonary edema. She developed diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) that was confirmed with bronchoscopy and hemorrhagic samples on bronchoalveolar lavage.

INTERVENTIONS

She was mechanically ventilated with lung protective measures for management of ARDS. In addition to antibiotic cover with amoxicillin sodium-potassium clavulanate for occult infections during her stay in the intensive care unit, we administered epinephrine inhalations, intravenous treatment with tranexamic acid, and methylprednisolone for DAH.

OUTCOMES

Her clinical course improved; she was extubated successfully on day 7 and discharged home on day 11.

LESSONS SUBSECTIONS

Chemotherapeutic agents may cause pulmonary toxicity through a direct cytotoxic effect or immune-mediated reactions and result in an increased risk of development of ARDS. Furthermore, surgery may trigger a systemic inflammatory response syndrome that can also induce ARDS. In our patient, the development of ARDS was attributed to the combined effects of surgery and chemotherapeutic agents (trastuzumab or docetaxel). When patients undergo major surgery after receiving chemotherapeutic agents, careful consideration is necessary to prevent the development of ARDS.

Administration of Corticosteroids, Ascorbic Acid, and Thiamine Improves Oxygenation after Thoracoscopic Esophagectomy

PURPOSE

The activity of corticosteroids, ascorbic acid, and thiamine against oxidative and inflammatory responses was evaluated in patients undergoing esophagectomy. This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of this combined therapy on lung dysfunction following esophagectomy.

METHODS

In this retrospective before-after study, we compared the clinical course of consecutive patients undergoing thoracoscopic esophagectomy treated with the combination of corticosteroids, ascorbic acid, and thiamine between June and December 2018 with a control group treated with corticosteroids alone between January 2016 and May 2018. Outcomes included oxygenation (arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2)/fractional concentration of inspired oxygen (FiO2) ratios), duration of mechanical ventilation and intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay.

RESULTS

In all, 17 patients were included in this study (6 in the combination therapy group and 11 patients in the control group). Mean PaO2/FiO2 ratios in the combined therapy group were significantly higher than in the control group at all points during the observation period (p <0.001). In the combined therapy group, the duration of mechanical ventilation and ICU stay were significantly shorter (p <0.001, p = 0.009).

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that combined therapy including corticosteroids, ascorbic acid, and thiamine may be effective in improving oxygenation after esophagectomy. Additional studies are required to confirm these preliminary findings.

Early Respiratory Impairment and Pneumonia after Hybrid Laparoscopically Assisted Esophagectomy-A Comparison with the Open Approach

Patients undergoing esophageal cancer surgery are at high risk of developing severe pulmonary complications. Beneficial effects of minimally invasive esophagectomy had been discussed recently, but the incidence of perioperative respiratory impairment remains unclear. This is a retrospective single-center cohort study of patients, who underwent open (OE) or laparoscopically assisted, hybrid minimally invasive abdomino-thoracic esophagectomy (LAE) for cancer regarding respiratory impairment (PaO₂/FiO₂ ratio (P/FR) < 300 mmHg) and pneumonia. No differences were observed in the cumulative incidence of reduced P/FR between OE and LAE patients. Of note, until postoperative day (POD) 2, P/FR did not differ among both groups. Thereafter, the rate of patients with respiratory impairment was higher after OE on POD 3, 5, and 10 (p ≤ 0.05) and tended being higher on POD 7 and 9 (p ≤ 0.1). Although the duration of LAE procedure was slightly longer (total: p = 0.07, thoracic part: p = 0.004), the duration of surgery (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (r_sp) = -0.267, p = 0.006), especially of laparotomy (r_sp = -0.242, p = 0.01) correlated inversely with respiratory impairment on POD 3 after OE. Pneumonia occurred on POD 5 (1-25) and 8.5 (3-14) after OE and LAE, respectively, with the highest incidence after OE (p = 0.01). In conclusion, respiratory impairment and pulmonary complications occur frequently after esophagectomy. Although early respiratory impairment is independent of the surgical approach, postoperative pneumonia rate is reduced after LAE.

Epidural analgesia and avoidance of blood transfusion are associated with reduced mortality in patients with postoperative pulmonary complications following thoracotomic esophagectomy: a retrospective cohort study of 335 patients

Background

Postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) represent the most frequent complications after esophagectomy. The aim of this study was to identify modifiable risk factors for PPCs and 90-days mortality related to PPCs after esophagectomy in esophageal cancer patients.

Methods

This is a single center retrospective cohort study of 335 patients suffering from esophageal cancer who underwent esophagectomy between 1996 and 2014 at a university hospital center. Statistical processing was conducted using univariate and multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis of patient-specific and procedural risk factors for PPCs and mortality.

Results

The incidence of PPCs was 52% (175/335) and the 90-days mortality rate of patients with PPCs was 8% (26/335) in this study cohort. The univariate and multivariate analysis revealed the following independent risk factors for PPCs and its associated mortality. ASA score ≥ 3 was the only independent patient-specific risk factor for the incidence of PPCs and 90-days mortality of patients with an odds ratio for PPCs being 1.7 (1.1–2.6 95% CI) and an odds ratio of 2.6 (1.1–6.2 95% CI) for 90-days mortality. The multivariate approach depicted two independent procedural risk factors including transfusion of packed red blood cells (PRBCs) odds ratio of 1.9 (1.2–3 95% CI) for PPCs and an odds ratio of 5.0 (2.0–12.6 95% CI) for 90-days mortality; absence of thoracic epidural anesthesia (TEA) revealed the highest odds ratio 2.0 (1.01–3.8 95% CI) for PPCs and an odds ratio of 3.9 (1.6–9.7 95% CI) for 90-days mortality.

Conclusion

In esophageal cancer patients undergoing esophagectomy via thoracotomy, epidural analgesia and the avoidance of intraoperative blood transfusion are significantly associated with a reduced 90-days mortality related to PPCs.

Ivor Lewis esophagectomy patients are particularly vulnerable to respiratory impairment - a comparison to major lung resection

Pulmonary complications and a poor clinical outcome are common in response to transthoracic esophagectomy, but their etiology is not well understood. Clinical observation suggests that patients undergoing pulmonary resection, a surgical intervention with similarities to the thoracic part of esophagectomy, fare much better, but this has not been investigated in detail. A retrospective single-center analysis of 181 consecutive patients after right-sided thoracotomy for either Ivor Lewis esophagectomy (n = 83) or major pulmonary resection (n = 98) was performed. An oxygenation index <300 mm Hg was used to indicate respiratory impairment. When starting surgery, respiratory impairment was seen more frequently in patients undergoing major pulmonary resection compared to esophagectomy patients (p = 0.009). On postoperative days one to ten, however, esophagectomy caused higher rates of respiratory impairment (p < 0.05) resulting in a higher cumulative incidence of postoperative respiratory impairment for patients after esophagectomy (p < 0.001). Accordingly, esophagectomy patients were characterized by longer ventilation times (p < 0.0001), intensive care unit and total postoperative hospital stays (both p < 0.0001). In conclusion, the postoperative clinical course including respiratory impairment after Ivor Lewis esophagectomy is significantly worse than that after major pulmonary resection. A detailed investigation of the underlying causes is required to improve the outcome of esophagectomy.

Prevalence and clinical course of postoperative acute lung injury after esophagectomy for esophageal cancer

Background

Although acute lung injury (ALI) that develops after esophagectomy is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, there is limited information on its overall clinical course. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence and clinical course of ALI after esophagectomy.

Methods

Data were collected from all consecutive patients diagnosed with ALI after esophagectomy for esophageal cancer from January 2012 through March 2017 and retrospectively analyzed.

Results

During the study period, a total of 1,132 patients underwent esophagectomy for esophageal cancer and 52 (4.6%) patients developed postoperative ALI. At the time of ALI diagnosis, the median lung injury score of all patients was 1.8 (1.0-2.0). Among the patients with ALI, 17 (33%) patients required mechanical ventilation (MV) support, of which two failed to wean from MV and 15 were weaned from MV. The median MV duration was 4 days (interquartile range, 3-8 days). Corticosteroids were used in 33 (63%) patients. During corticosteroid treatment, superimposed infections were observed in 10 (30%) patients and surgical site complications were observed in 9 (27%). Overall in-hospital mortality was 10%.

Conclusions

The prevalence and mortality of ALI following esophagectomy in our study were lower than those of previous reports. However, the use of corticosteroids in patients with ALI following esophagectomy requires attention to the occurrence of surgical site complications and close surveillance to identify new infections.

Perioperative changes in exhaled nitric oxide during oesophagectomy

INTRODUCTION

Oesophagectomy is a major surgical procedure, associated with high rates of postoperative cardiopulmonary morbidity, that is in part due to the frequent requirement for periods of intraoperative one-lung ventilation (OLV). The current pilot study aims to investigate variation in exhaled NO levels during oesophagectomy with emphasis on the response to OLV and correlation to physiological variables and clinical outcomes.

METHODS

Breath-to-breath concentrations of NO were analysed in patients undergoing oesophagectomy at various stages of two-lung ventilation. Furthermore, we also analysed the effects of OLV both in the selectively ventilated and collapsed lungs.

RESULTS

Twenty-four patients were recruited to the study (17 male, 60.2 ± 12.8 years). Regarding two-lung ventilation, the baseline levels of NO (2.9 ppb), tended to increase after re-inflation of the collapsed lung (3.5 ppb, P = 0. 888) and decreased at 2 h (2.1 ppb, P = 0.022) and 12 h (2.2 ppb, P = 0.733) postoperatively. Compared to baseline, selective measurements of NO at the end of OLV demonstrated a significant reduction of NO levels in the ventilated lung (1.6 versus 3.1 ppb, P = 0.028), whereas re-inflation of the collapsed lung revealed higher levels of NO (3.4 versus 2.7 ppb, P = 0.657). Exhaled NO correlated significantly with systolic blood pressure and lactate (P < 0.007). Exhaled NO levels tended to be higher at all perioperative time points in patients who developed postoperative respiratory complications (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

This study highlights effects of oesophagectomy and OLV on exhaled concentrations of NO. The observed variations may be related to differential ventilation during OLV altering the complex balance between synthesis and consumption of NO as well as local and generalised tissue injury associated with this surgery. Findings should prompt further larger studies to establish the relationship between exhaled NO and lung injury both during and after oesophagectomy and one-lung ventilation.

Pathophysiological Approaches of Acute Respiratory Distress syndrome: Novel Bases for Study of Lung Injury

Experimental approaches have been implemented to research the lung damage related-mechanism. These models show in animals pathophysiological events for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), such as neutrophil activation, reactive oxygen species burst, pulmonary vascular hypertension, exudative edema, and other events associated with organ dysfunction. Moreover, these approaches have not reproduced the clinical features of lung damage. Lung inflammation is a relevant event in the develop of ARDS as component of the host immune response to various stimuli, such as cytokines, antigens and endotoxins. In patients surviving at the local inflammatory states, transition from injury to resolution is an active mechanism regulated by the immuno-inflammatory signaling pathways. Indeed, inflammatory process is regulated by the dynamics of cell populations that migrate to the lung, such as neutrophils and on the other hand, the role of the modulation of transcription factors and reactive oxygen species (ROS) sources, such as nuclear factor kappaB and NADPH oxidase. These experimental animal models reproduce key components of the injury and resolution phases of human ALI/ARDS and provide a methodology to explore mechanisms and potential new therapies.