A & A case reports
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A 65-year-old man was admitted for acute coronary syndrome with depressed left ventricular function and moderate aortic regurgitation. He was managed with an intraaortic balloon pump for circulatory support before coronary artery bypass grafting and subsequently developed flash pulmonary edema with an associated rare finding of diastolic pulmonary venous flow reversal. In this report, we provide a review of intraaortic balloon pump use in current clinical practice and elaborate on the pathophysiology of an uncommon pulmonary venous flow pattern found in our patient.
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Improvement of living and socioeconomic conditions, developments, and innovations in medicine and technology has prolonged of life expectancy. We provided spinal anesthesia for a 111-year-old woman requiring internal fixation of a fractured femur. ⋯ The patient was discharged from the intensive care unit after 24-hour monitoring without any complications. She was discharged from the hospital on postoperative day 2.
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The ability to apply perioperative ultrasound techniques is a desirable skill for clinicians. We implemented a multimodal 13-day basic ultrasound course for 6 anesthesia interns. ⋯ They maintained their ability to acquire echocardiographic images on a simulator 90 days later with kinematic measures superior to the same seniors. Through this course, interns gained knowledge and skills equal to or greater than seniors.
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Case Reports
Safety Concerns About an Epidural Blood Patch in a Patient with Extensive Epidural Fluid Accumulation.
We present a case of postdural puncture headache in a patient with extensive epidural fluid accumulation. An initial epidural blood patch was aborted because of concern about increased risk of complications. After magnetic resonance imaging, we proceeded with epidural blood patch with a good therapeutic result. We discuss the imaging results and safety concerns we considered when assessing the benefits and risks of epidural blood patch in this patient.
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Effective multimodal analgesia and sedation reduce the postoperative morbidity and mortality associated with newborn bladder exstrophy repair. Epidural analgesia is safe and effective for major surgery in neonates and infants, reducing the need for muscle relaxants, opioids, and ventilator support postoperatively. ⋯ In this report, we describe the postoperative analgesic management of an infant undergoing bladder exstrophy repair using a directly placed tunneled epidural catheter with ropivacaine 0.1% infusion. Because of the prolonged infusion, we also monitored plasma ropivacaine levels to preclude systemic toxicity from local anesthetic overdose.