Improvement of arterial oxygenation by selective infusion of prostaglandin E1 to ventilated lung during one-lung ventilation

One-lung anesthesia provides a better surgical field for thoracic procedures but also impairs the arterial oxygenation and venous admixture. During one-lung ventilation, pulmonary vasoconstriction is assumed to be present within both ventilated and collapsed lungs. We propose that arterial oxygenation could be optimized by offsetting the vasoconstriction within the microcirculation of ventilated lung.