Abstract
We report a case of a 34-year-old woman who underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for pneumothorax with veno-venous extracorporeal lung assist (V-V ECLA). She had previously had a bullectomy of the right lung and right upper lobectomy due to a recurrent right pneumothorax. She developed a left pneumothorax, and a chest drain was immediately inserted. However, she required a bullectomy because of a persistent air leak. After general anesthesia, differential lung ventilation was attempted, but adequate respiratory function was difficult to maintain because of a very low tidal volume (<100ml). Therefore, V-V ECLA was instituted. The right femoral vein and the right internal jugular vein were selected as the cannulation sites. Video-assisted thoracoscopic bullectomy was successfully performed with V-V ECLA. V-V ECLA is useful for supporting patients with severe lung dysfunction.
