Pulmonary scintigraphy for diagnosis of aspiration during intravenous propofol anaesthesia for colonoscopy

A specific technique for detection of pulmonary aspiration duringthe perioperative period is lacking. In this study, we developeda scintigraphic method for its diagnosis. Technetium 99m sulphurcolloid was given orally 2 h before an i.v. infusion of propofolin patients undergoing elective colonoscopy. During the procedure,patients were spontaneously breathing 100% oxygen via a facemask. After recovery from anaesthesia, patients had a chestscinti-scan. As a control group, 10 healthy men were studied.The lung scan was considered positive if any tracer activitygreater than background level was detected in the lung field.Among 96 patients studied, three patients had a positive chestscinti-scan. One of the three patients developed pneumonia whilethe other two remained asymptomatic. In none of the controlasymptomatic group was tracer detected in the chest. We suggestthat this technique is specific and can be used as a tool toassess the risk of pulmonary aspiration during different anaestheticprocedures. Br J Anaesth 2001; 87: 204–6