Vanishing lung syndrome is a rare disease that could be treated successfully in selected cases with bullectomy. Protective ventilation is very important during surgery to achieve optimal post-operative results and to prevent complications. Hypercapnia and respiratory acidosis are the main disadvantages of this ventilator strategy. The use of extracorporeal CO2 removal device has been introduced to support protective and ultra-protective ventilation during respiratory failure in complex cases. In thoracic surgery the intraoperative use of this device is still not widespread. We report a successful case of a giant left lung bullectomy with intraoperative support with Pro-Lung CO2 removal device for the management of hypercapnia during single lung ventilation.
Keywords: Bullectomy; ECCO2-R; Extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal; Minimally invasive thoracic surgery; Vanishing lung syndrome.