A&A practice
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Case Reports
A Novel Approach to Postoperative Ear Pain-Greater Auricular Nerve Block Catheter: A Case Report.
A 70-year-old man presented for repair of an ear avulsion injury sustained from an all-terrain vehicle accident. A continuous technique using a catheter for a greater auricular nerve (GAN) block was performed in the preoperative area followed by general anesthesia in the operating room. ⋯ The GAN catheter was kept in place for 3 days with near-complete pain relief per the patient. To our knowledge, there are no case reports that describe a continuous GAN technique for surgery and postoperative pain.
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Case Reports
Eighteenth Century Complications With 21st Century General Anesthesia: A Case Report of Scurvy.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be associated with self-imposed dietary restrictions causing nutritional deficiencies, and the anesthesiologist must be aware of their potential clinical implications. Because humans are unable to produce ascorbic acid through endogenous metabolic pathways and children with ASD may avoid vitamin C-containing foods, vitamin C deficiency, or scurvy, may develop in patients scheduled for general anesthesia. Vitamin C deficiency may cause dysfunction in autonomic nervous system processes or pulmonary hypertension resulting in unexpected hemodynamic lability. We describe a child with ASD and limited dietary options leading to undiagnosed scurvy and intraoperative hypotension.
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Spinal anesthesia is administered for select procedures in the pediatric population and offers a safe alternative to general anesthesia. In this case series, we report loss of corneal and eyelash reflexes in 4 children who underwent spinal anesthesia for lower abdominal procedures. While initially thought to be the result of higher-than-intended spinal anesthesia, the observation that gentle stimulation produced vigorous phonation, orbicularis oculi constriction, and upper extremity movement suggests an alternative mechanism. This finding highlights a potential gap in knowledge related to the effect spinal anesthesia has on brain dynamics in children.
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A 72-year-old man with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing transurethral resection of a bladder tumor experienced severe and prolonged hypotension after receiving oral 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA). Continuous infusions of norepinephrine and vasopressin ultimately resolved the hypotension over the course of 26 hours. It is uncertain whether 5-ALA is causative or is a contributing factor that influences other factors, such as hypovolemia after hemodialysis and autonomic nerve dysfunction associated with ESRD. Our findings suggest that anesthesiologists should be aware of the possible occurrence of hypotension after administration of 5-ALA, and urologists should consider intravesical 5-ALA administration in patients with ESRD.
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Cytoreductive surgery (CS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) present a challenging task for anesthesia providers. Anesthesia management may be complicated by hyperthermia, fluid shifts, and distinct inflammatory response. ⋯ We report a case of a 2-year-old child with a relapse of an alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma of the uterus and peritoneal carcinomatosis treated with CS and HIPEC. For children, careful temperature measurement, intraoperative prevention of hyperthermia, and sufficient volume management are important, as well as postoperative pediatric intensive care with experience CS and HIPEC patients.