A&A practice
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A variety of factors are known to prolong neuromuscular blockade, including several medications commonly used in anesthetic practice. We present a patient who underwent general anesthesia using desflurane, vecuronium, and magnesium infusion with delayed neuromuscular blockade reversal after sugammadex administration. A higher than anticipated total dose of sugammadex was required for adequate reversal, and quantitative neuromuscular monitoring was essential to ensuring complete neuromuscular recovery before extubation in this case.
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Anesthetic management of the adult patient with a Fontan circulation is complex and requires understanding of the specific physiology of the individual patient. Long-term survival in this cohort has increased to the point where patients are presenting for noncardiac surgery related to degenerative diseases of aging. We describe the perioperative management of a patient with a Fontan circulation undergoing total hip arthroplasty using combined spinal-epidural anesthesia and discuss the issues requiring special consideration for this surgical procedure in this group of patients.
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Case Reports
Intravenous Ketamine as an Adjunct for Pachyonychia Congenita-Associated Pain: A Case Report.
Pachyonychia congenita (PC) is a rare, inherited disorder of keratin filaments characterized by palmoplantar hyperkeratosis, keratoderma, and extreme pain. Management is largely symptomatic and typically involves multimodal pain control strategies. ⋯ Within 1 night of beginning treatment, his pain diminished to a 0/10 without any adverse effects, with effects lasting 2 weeks. No reported PC pain regimens have made use of intravenous ketamine; thus, we suggest recurrent ketamine infusions as an additional option in the multimodal pain regimen for patients with PC.
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Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) are a feasible alternative to conventional central venous access. PICCs are often used perioperatively for central venous pressure monitoring and administration of vasoactive drugs especially in cancer patients. Catheter breakage and embolization are rare but potentially fatal complications, and most of the reported literature pertains to pediatric patients after medium- to long-term use. In this report, we describe a rare scenario of catheter breakage, entrapment, and embolization in a patient caused by inadvertent surgical clip and suture placement.
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A young woman first diagnosed with von Hippel-Lindau disease (VHL) during pregnancy underwent an uncomplicated cesarean delivery despite having multiple classic VHL tumors, including a large cerebellopontine brain mass and vasoactive pheochromocytoma. Patients with VHL may have multiple tumors of the central nervous system and viscera that greatly impact anesthetic management. This case highlights the anesthetic considerations for a parturient with pheochromocytoma and elevated intracranial pressure, as well as the importance of a multidisciplinary team approach.