Recovery and safety with prolonged high-frequency jet ventilation for catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation: A hospital registry study from a New England healthcare network

Study objective: To investigate post-procedural recovery as well as peri-procedural respiratory and hemodynamic safety parameters with prolonged use of high-frequency jet ventilation (HFJV) versus conventional ventilation in patients undergoing catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation.Design: Hospital registry study.Setting: Tertiary academic teaching hospital in New England.Patients: 1822 patients aged 18 years and older undergoing catheter ablation between January 2013 and June 2020.Interventions: HFJV versus conventional mechanical ventilation.Measurements: The primary outcome was post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) length of stay. In secondary analyses we assessed the effect of HFJV on intra-procedural hypoxemia, defined as the occurrence of peripheral hemo-globin oxygen saturation (SpO2) <90%, post-procedural respiratory complications (PRC) as well as intra-procedural hypocarbia and hypotension. Multivariable negative binomial and logistic regression analyses, adjusted for patient and procedural characteristics, were applied.Main results: 1157 patients (63%) received HFJV for a median (interquartile range [IQR]) duration of 307 (253-360) minutes. The median (IQR) length of stay in the PACU was 244 (172-370) minutes in patients who underwent ablation with conventional mechanical ventilation and 226 (163-361) minutes in patients receiving HFJV. In adjusted analyses, patients undergoing HFJV had a longer PACU length of stay (adjusted absolute difference: 37.7 min; 95% confidence interval [CI] 9.7-65.8; p = 0.008). There was a higher risk of intra-procedural hypocarbia (adjusted odds ratio [ORadj] 5.90; 95%CI 2.63-13.23; p < 0.001) and hypotension (ORadj 1.88; 95%CI 1.31-2.72; p = 0.001) in patients undergoing HFJV. No association was found between the use of HFJV and intra-procedural hypoxemia or PRC (p = 0.51, and p = 0.97, respectively).Conclusion: After confounder adjustment, HFJV for catheter ablation procedures for treatment of atrial fibrilla-tion was associated with a longer length of stay in the PACU. It was further associated with an increased risk of intra-procedural abnormalities including abnormal carbon dioxide homeostasis, as well as intra-procedural arterial hypotension.

Automated summary

This study compared the effects of high-frequency jet ventilation (HFJV) with conventional ventilation in catheter ablation procedures for atrial fibrillation. The results showed that patients receiving HFJV had a longer length of stay in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) and an increased risk of intra-procedural hypocarbia and hypotension.