Objective: This case report describes an unusual presentation of right upper lobe atelectasis associated with refractory hypoxemia to conventional alveolar recruitment maneuvers in a patient soon after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery.
Method: Case-report.
Results: The alveolar recruitment with PEEP = 40 cm H2O improved the patient's atelectasis and hypoxemia.
Conclusion: In the present report, the unusual alveolar recruitment maneuver with PEEP 40 cm H2O showed to be safe and efficient to reverse refractory hypoxemia and uncommon atelectasis in a patient after cardiac surgery.