Background: Morbidly obese patients show impaired pulmonary function during anesthesia and paralysis, partly due to formation of atelectasis. This study analyzed the effect of general anesthesia and three different ventilatory strategies to reduce the amount of atelectasis and improve respiratory function. Methods: Thirty patients (body mass index 45 +/- 4 kg/m) scheduled for gastric bypass surgery were prospectively randomized into three groups: (1) positive end-expiratory pressure of 10 cm H2O (PEEP), (2) a recruitment maneuver with 55 cm H2O for 10 s followed by zero end-expiratory pressure, (3) a recruitment maneuver followed by PEEP. Transverse lung computerized tomography scans and blood gas analysis were recorded: awake, 5 min after induction of anesthesia and paralysis at zero end-expiratory pressure, and 5 min and 20 min after intervention. In addition, spiral computerized tomography scans were performed at two occasions in 23 of the patients. Results: After induction of anesthesia, atelectasis increased from 1 +/- 0.5% to 11 +/- 6% of total lung volume (P < 0.0001). End-expiratory lung volume decreased from 1,387 +/- 581 ml to 697 +/- 157 ml (P = 0.0014). A recruitment maneuver + PEEP reduced atelectasis to 3 +/- 4% (P = 0.0002), increased end-expiratory lung volume and increased Pao2/Fio2 from 266 +/- 70 mmHg to 412 +/- 99 mmHg (P < 0.0001). PEEP alone did not reduce the amount of atelectasis or improve oxygenation. A recruitment maneuver + zero end-expiratory pressure had a transient positive effect on respiratory function. All values are presented as mean +/- SD. Conclusions: A recruitment maneuver followed by PEEP reduced atelectasis and improved oxygenation in morbidly obese patients, whereas PEEP or a recruitment maneuver alone did not.

We report an enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) outbreak in Stockholm Sweden in 2016. Between 22 August and 25 September EV-D68 was detected in 74/495 respiratory samples analysed at the Karolinska University Hospital. During the peak week, 30/91 (33%) samples were EV-D68 positive. Viral protein (VP)P4/VP2 sequencing revealed that cases were caused by B3 lineage strains. Forty-four (59%) EV-D68-positive patients were children aged ≤ 5 years. Ten patients had severe respiratory or neurological symptoms and one died.

The incidence of severe respiratory complications in patients with pelvis fractures needing intensive care have not previously been studied. Therefore, the aims of this registry study were to 1) determine the number of ICU patients with pelvis fractures who had severe respiratory complications 2) whether the surgical intervention in these patients is associated with the pulmonary condition and 3) whether there is an association between lung complications and mortality. We hypothesized that acute hypoxic failure (AHF) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) 1) are common in ICU treated patients with pelvis fractures, 2) are not related to the reconstructive surgery, or to 3) to mortality. All patients in the database cohort (n = 112), scheduled for surgical stabilization of pelvis ring and/or acetabulum fractures, admitted to the general ICU at Uppsala University Hospital between 2007 and 2014 for intensive care were included. The incidence of AHF/ARDS was 67 % (75/112 patients), i.e., the percentage of patients that at any period during the ICU stay fulfilled the AHF/ARDS criteria. The incidence of AHF was 44 % and incidence of ARDS was 23 %. The patients with AHF/ARDS had more lung contusions and pneumonia than the patients without AHF/ARDS. Overall, there were no significant changes in oxygenation variables associated with surgery. However, 23 patients with pre-operative normal lung status developed AHF/ARDS in relation to the surgical procedure, whereas 12 patients with AHF/ARDS normalized their lung condition. The patients who developed AHF/ARDS had a higher incidence of lung contusion (P = 0.04) and the surgical stabilization was performed earlier (5 versus 10 days) in these patients (P = 0.03). We found that the incidence of respiratory failure in ICU treated patients with pelvis fractures was high, that the procedure around surgical stabilization seems to be associated with a worsening in the respiratory function in patients with lung contusion, and that mortality was low and was probably not related to the respiratory condition. Study was registered at ISRCTN.org number, ISRCTN10335587 .