A & A case reports
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Hyphema, an ophthalmic pathology characterized by blood accumulation in the anterior chamber of the eye, has never been linked to administration of general anesthesia. We present the case of a spontaneous hyphema occurring on emergence from general anesthesia in a postlaparoscopic appendectomy patient. A valsalva-like maneuver with breath-holding during stage II of emergence or during CO2 insufflation may have led to the development of hyphema.
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Thresholds for platelet counts in patients at risk for bleeding are often used before surgery. We present a case report of a 13-year-old female with chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura for dental extraction with a platelet count of 4 × 10 L. Usually, therapies including platelet infusions, IV immunoglobulin, or corticosteroids would be used to increase platelet numbers. In this patient, rather than using any of these prophylactic therapies preoperatively, we used a "watchful waiting" strategy with a multidisciplinary team, the use of tranexamic acid and the aforementioned therapies available only as "rescue" agents.
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Reports of acute onset of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) after epidural anesthesia/analgesia after labor and cesarean delivery has raised concern of a correlation between GBS and the use of neuraxial anesthesia. We present a patient who developed bilateral lower extremity weakness and paraparesis within hours after removal of an epidural catheter for cesarean delivery. The clinical diagnosis was highly suggestive for GBS after magnetic resonance imaging, cerebrospinal fluid findings, electromyogram, and nerve conduction studies. We discuss the pathophysiological mechanisms suggested in previous case reports and describe the relationship between epidural analgesia and GBS.
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An 8-year-old girl with McCune-Albright syndrome presented for resection of a very large fibrous dysplasia mass of the face with significant distortion of the airway anatomy. She had significant obstructive sleep apnea with daytime somnolence and hemoglobin oxygen desaturations while breathing room air preoperatively. We were able to successfully manage her airway by providing IV sedation, topical anesthesia of the airway, and oral fiberoptic intubation in close collaboration with our otorhinolaryngology colleagues.