Impact of airway and a standardized recruitment maneuver on CT chest imaging quality in a pediatric population: A retrospective review.
An interesting Australian paper focusing on CT imaging and minimising the effects of pulmonary atelectasis. The authors present a retrospective study of 44 paediatric patients to compare the use of a supraglottic airway device (SGA) with non-standardised airway recruitment versus the use of a cuffed endotracheal tube (ETT) with a standardised airway recruitment manoeuvre and the resultant degree of atelectasis (“atelectasis score”).
The study population underwent two consecutive CT chest under general anaesthesia as part of cystic fibrosis surveillance, with the first scan under SGA and the second using the described standardised recruitment method with a cuffed ETT. Grading of atelectatic opacities constituted the “atelectasis score”. Results indicated that the cuffed ETT and standardised recruitment manoeuvre group had significantly reduced mean atelectasis scores. The results are in keeping with previous work in the area and thus the authors recommend a standardised recruitment manoeuvre and use of a cuffed ETT as part of CT chest imaging to reduced atelectasis and thus improve image quality.
Reviewed by Dr Renee Burton
