Herewith a quick tutorial on the use and placement of the bifurcated, dual-balloon ‘EZ-Blocker’ bronchial blocker. More videos on the DLT vs BB debate, the other blockers, and troubleshooting advice to follow. Comments welcomed as always!
Tag Archives: thoracic anaesthesia
Overview of the use of fibreoptic bronchoscopy in thoracic surgery
The well-known thoracic anaesthesia guru, Prof Jay Brodsky, has written a succinct and simple overview of the use of fibreoptic bronchoscopy (FOB) in thoracic anaestheisa, which is equally applicable to the modern flexible video endoscopes. If you are looking for a brief primer (including the appropriate use for placement of bronchial blockers and double-lumen ETTs), read the article on the Airway E-Learning site here.
Importantly, he elucidates the reasons for becoming proficient in the clinical placement and confirmation of DLTs without the use of a FOB, which is of particular relevance here in the developing world.