Ventilatory Strategy to Prevent Atelectasis During Bronchoscopy With General Anesthesia

We read with great interest the recently published article by Salahuddin et al1 in CHEST, where it was shown that, during bronchoscopy with general anesthesia, a ventilatory strategy to prevent atelectasis (VESPA) with endotracheal intubation followed by a recruitment maneuver, significantly reduces the incidence of atelectasis; it is well-tolerated and has a sustained effect over time, despite the bronchoscopic nodal staging. We appreciate the important information presented in this article, and we wish to comment on some associated issues.