A 67-year-old male with bilateral lung lesions presented for median sternotomy. One-lung ventilation was complicated by arterial desaturation. Continuous positive airway pressure with oxygen was applied to the non-ventilated lung to relieve the hypoxaemia. However, the cotton gauze packed inside the operative site was ignited by the electrocautery. The burning gauze was immediately removed without any complication.
We report a case of electrocautery-induced fire during thoracic surgery done in supine position and discuss its implication on the choice of oxygen enrichment therapy during one-lung ventilation.
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