A&A practice
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Case Reports
Laryngeal Mask Airway Embedded With Pharyngeal Suction Catheters for Rhinoplasty: A Case Report.
A flexible laryngeal mask airway device (LMAD) embedded with 2 pharyngeal suction catheters was used for a young female patient who underwent a revision rhinoplasty, septoplasty, and chin implant. The modified LMAD was constructed by attaching 2 suction catheters onto the back of the mask; it functioned well without signs of malfunction or complications, with a total of 71 mL of blood evacuated from the pharyngeal area during the five and a half hour surgery. The patient emerged from anesthesia without coughing or straining, and reported no sore throat or nausea/vomiting in the recovery room.
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Accidental fire can occur with upper airway injury and can be fatal if inappropriately managed. Effective communication between the anesthetic and the surgical teams can reduce the risk of such an adverse event. ⋯ The literature on upper airway thermal injury has focused on prevention and intraoperative management, but few studies have described postburn management. In this report, we describe the intraoperative occurrence of an airway fire during a surgical tracheostomy and subsequent patient management.
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Acute lower extremity ischemia from septic emboli is a surgical emergency. Timely diagnosis and management are critical to improve patient outcome. However, traditional diagnostic modalities such as intraoperative angiogram are time-consuming, require special equipment and personnel, and introduce contrast exposure for critically ill patients. ⋯ We present a case where femoral occlusive septic emboli were identified by point-of-care ultrasound after mitral valve replacement. This facilitated early surgical embolectomy and limb salvage. We suggest that perioperative point-of-care ultrasonography should be used as a first-line screening test in patients with acute lower extremity ischemia.
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Case Reports
Evaluating the Use of Ketamine for Pain Control With Sickle Cell Crisis in Pregnancy: A Report of 2 Cases.
Sickle cell crises occur frequently during pregnancy and are difficult to treat, even with high-dose opioids. Analgesia with ketamine has been suggested as an alternative, but its use during pregnancy is underreported. Two pregnant patients with uncontrolled sickle cell pain were treated with ketamine. ⋯ Patient B's pain resolved during ketamine administration. No serious maternal or neonatal adverse effects occurred. Ketamine may be considered as an adjunct analgesic in pregnant patients with sickle cell pain, although prospective clinical data are needed to fully assess its efficacy.