Use of a left-sided double-lumen endotracheal tube in a patient with a prior left pneumonectomy

A 77-year-old man, 7 years after left pneumonectomy, was scheduled for a right upper pulmonary lobectomy. The early identification of a newly developing carcinoma on the right upper pulmonary lobe warranted surgical resection. Right exploratory thoracotomy, pleural lysis, partial pleurectomy, and right upper lobe wedge resection were completed, and the patient was discharged without sequelae. This case report describes the intraoperative anesthetic management of a right upper lobe wedge resection and attributes the uneventful intraoperative outcome to a strategically and skillfully placed left double-lumen endotracheal tube.