ABSTRACT
Abstract Severe asthma affects more than 250 million people and represents high healthcare costs. Bronchial thermoplasty is a relatively new technique in interventional pulmonology for managing this condition. The procedure is done under general anesthesia and the patients are mostly ASA II and III; therefore, the anesthesia plan must be safe. The purpose of the article is to describe the anesthetic technique used (general anesthesia and laryngeal mask) and the immediate and early complications of the procedure. Four patients were included, each undergoing three sessions. The complications during and immediately after the procedure, as well as the early complications (up to seven days post-procedure) that could have required hospital management were discussed. In three of the sessions at least one acute bronchospasm event presented, but only one patient required hospital admission for more than 24 hours. Experience suggests that thermoplasty may be safely conducted under general anesthesia and laryngeal mask.
Resumen El asma grave afecta a más de 250 millones de personas y genera altos costos en el sistema de salud. La termoplastia bronquial es una técnica relativamente novedosa de la neumología intervencionista para el manejo de esta condición. Este procedimiento se realiza bajo anestesia general, y los pacientes son en su mayoría ASA II y III, por lo que el plan anestésico debe ser seguro. El objetivo del artículo es describir la técnica anestésica utilizada (anestesia general y máscara laríngea) y las complicaciones inmediatas y tempranas del procedimiento. Se incluyeron cuatro pacientes, cada uno de los cuales fue sometido a tres sesiones. Se describieron las complicaciones durante e inmediatamente después del procedimiento y las complicaciones tempranas (hasta siete días posprocedimiento), que hubieran requerido manejo hospitalario. En tres de las sesiones se presentó al menos un evento agudo de broncoespasmo y solo un paciente requirió hospitalización mayor a 24 horas. La experiencia sugiere que la termoplastia puede ser llevada a cabo de manera segura bajo anestesia general y mascara laríngea.
Subject(s)
Pancreas DivisumABSTRACT
Bronchial thermoplasty is a nonpharmacological treatment for severe asthma that delivers thermal energy to the bronchial walls and reduces hypertrophied smooth muscle mass. Previous studies have shown its efficacy and safety, resulting in approval from the Food and Drug Administration in 2010. In Korea, the first bronchial thermoplasty was carried out in 2014; 4 patients have undergone the procedure so far. This case series presents the medical history and treatment outcomes of these 4 patients. All patients presented with uncontrolled asthma despite optimal medical treatment. Bronchial thermoplasty was performed at the right lower lobe, left lower lobe, and both upper lobes in order at 3-week intervals. All procedures were performed under general anesthesia. Two patients had significant decreases in exacerbations and required a lower dose of inhaled corticosteroids after the procedure. One patient had slightly fewer exacerbations but failed to reduce the use of systemic corticosteroids. One patient had no change in symptoms. One limitation of bronchial thermoplasty is the difficulty of predicting clinical responders. However, since more therapeutic options are needed in the management of severe asthma, especially T2-low asthma, discussion with experts about the feasibility and necessity of bronchial thermoplasty will ensure the best possible care.
Subject(s)
Humans , Adrenal Cortex Hormones , Anesthesia, General , Asthma , Korea , Muscle, Smooth , United States Food and Drug AdministrationABSTRACT
Summary: Even with the use of maximum pharmacological treatment, asthma still remains uncontrolled in some cases. For such cases of uncontrolled asthma, a novel therapy – Bronchial Thermoplasty (BT) - has shown some promising results over the past few years. BT is application of controlled radiofrequency heat via catheter inserted through a flexible bronchoscope, to the bronchial walls. It reduces the smooth muscle mass in bronchial wall and thus results in decreased contractility. Three major trials of BT show that it does not cause any improvement in FEV1. However, BT causes improvement the quality of life and decreases the future exacerbations and emergency hospital visits due to asthma. But the benefit observed was too small to be clinically significant. Follow up (two to five years) results of these BT trials did not show any significant long term adverse event related to BT. However, further independent large randomized controlled trials and results of application of BT in real hospital settings are needed to define its role in asthma management.