Rare dual-lung ventilation process at Chennai hospital saves mountaineer

A rare life-saving procedure was performed on a 24-year-old male athlete and mountaineer in Chennai at a private hospital. It was a distinctive case where doctors deployed two ventilators to revive his health. The patient visited the hospital with symptoms of breathlessness when he climbed stairs which was unusual for a person at that age and further clinical examination revealed a probable right lung infection with normal oxygen levels.

Doctors at Prashanth Hospitals noticed that the patient’s oxygen levels dropped up to 85 per cent and his heart rate went up to 150 with minor exertion during the six-minute walk test. The patient was breathless and a diagnostic examination revealed right lung pneumonia.

Dr Raja Saravanan, Senior Consultant Anaesthesia and Critical care said Independent Lung Ventilation procedure is more beneficial when compared to conventional treatment methods. “We had to move to an invasive form of ventilation to improve his oxygen levels and maintain it within safe limits. Dual lung ventilation is a technique where the lungs are isolated and ventilated by two different ventilators as each lung needed a different strategy. We proceeded to isolate both the lungs with a Double lumen tube and ventilate both the lungs with two different ventilators with different targets,” he said.

Dr Pari Muthukumar, Medical Superintendent, Prashanth Hospitals stated that a collapsed lung (Pneumothorax) is a complex case and life-threatening. “It requires immediate medical attention with emergency care,” he said.