The wire-guided endobronchial blocker as a solution to provide one-lung ventilation when a double-lumen endotracheal tube is malpositioned

Abstract

DOUBLE-LUMEN endotracheal tubes are the most commonly used tubes for lung isolation. The indications for use of bronchial blockers, such as the Univent single-lumen endotracheal tube with enclosed bronchial blocker (Fuji Systems Corporation, Tokyo, Japan),1 or the wire-guided endobronchial blocker (Cook Critical Care, Bloomington, IN)2, are debatable.3,4 The use of the wire-guided endobronchial blocker is reported for rescue in a patient who presented for thoracoscopy and for whom surgery was difficult because of an improperly positioned left-sided double-lumen endotracheal tube.