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Novel treatment (new drug/intervention; established drug/procedure in new situation)
Case report
Prone positioning in a patient with fat embolism syndrome presenting as diffuse alveolar haemorrhage: new perspective
  1. Arnab Banerjee1,
  2. Richa Aggarwal1,
  3. Kapil Dev Soni1 and
  4. Anjan Tirkha2
  1. 1Critical and Intensive Care, JPN Apex Trauma Center, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
  2. 2Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
  1. Correspondence to Dr Richa Aggarwal; pathakricha{at}yahoo.co.in

Abstract

Diffuse alveolar haemorrhage (DAH) is a rare complication of fat embolism syndrome leading to severe hypoxaemia due to the effusion of blood into the alveoli from the damaged pulmonary microvasculature. The management is usually supportive with patients being nursed in supine position. The use of prone position ventilation in a DAH has rarely been reported before. We report an interesting case of a 26-year-old male patient diagnosed with DAH caused by fat embolism in whom prone position ventilation improved the lung dynamics and oxygenation.

  • respiratory system
  • emergency medicine
  • trauma
  • mechanical ventilation
  • adult intensive care

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2019-233452

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors AB contributed to the concept and manuscript writing. RA, KDS and AT edited the article.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent for publication Obtained.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.