A & A case reports
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A 24-year-old woman with history of asthma was intubated emergently for acute status asthmaticus triggered by acute respiratory syncytial virus infection and treated with permissive hypercapnia. Her ventilation was complicated by auto-positive end-expiratory pressure and elevated peak airway, plateau, and central venous pressures. On hospital day 2, she was noted to have anisocoria. ⋯ Difficult ventilation and hypercapnia directly contributed to her severe cerebral edema. Comanagement between neurologic and medical/pulmonary intensivists enabled the management of the competing treatment requirements for status asthmaticus and cerebral edema. This case highlights the importance of balancing conflicting physiologic needs and collaboration between teams.
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Review Case Reports
Mechanical Support With Impella During Malignant Arrhythmia Ablation: A Case Report on the Growing Trend in the Electrophysiology Laboratory.
Congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries is a rare form of congenital heart disease in which the persistence of the right ventricle as the systemic ventricle leads to heart failure, tricuspid valve insufficiency, and arrhythmia. Supraventricular arrhythmias are especially common in these patients. We discuss the anesthetic management of a 33-year-old patient with congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries who required a ventricular assist device to maintain cardiac output during ablation of supraventricular tachyarrythmia. A witnessed pulseless cardiac arrest and resuscitation during a previous episode of supraventricular tachycardia prompted the elective insertion of the Impella catheter after induction of anesthesia for the ablation procedure.
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We report a case of successful intraoperative management using only low-volume regional anesthesia for the open surgical fixation of a traumatic clavicle fracture in a conscious 69-year-old man with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. To avoid general anesthesia, we provided low-volume C5 and C6 nerve root blocks along with a superficial cervical plexus block using only 9 mL of anesthetic solution to avoid the often encountered complications of higher volume injections. Throughout the procedure, the patient remained comfortable and cooperative with stable hemodynamics and respiration. The postoperative course was uncomplicated.
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Case Reports
Continuous Erector Spinae Plane Block for Rescue Analgesia in Thoracotomy After Epidural Failure: A Case Report.
The ultrasound-guided erector spinae plane (ESP) block is a newly described technique for providing thoracic analgesia. It is simple to perform and relatively noninvasive compared with thoracic epidural analgesia. In addition, the anatomy lends itself well to catheter insertion for continuous blockade. In this report, we describe the use of the ESP block as a rescue analgesic technique for postthoracotomy analgesia in a patient with failed thoracic epidural analgesia.
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Case Reports
Complete Antethoracic Block for Analgesia After Modified Radical Mastectomy: A Case Report.
Complete antethoracic block for modified radical mastectomy is a composite block comprising the antethoracic medial, antethoracic inferior, and antethoracic lateral blocks. The puncture targets of all components are easy to identify, and the risk of complications such as pneumothorax is low. ⋯ After induction of general anesthesia, but before surgical incision, she received a complete antethoracic block for anesthesia, which also provided good analgesia postoperatively. We believe that complete antethoracic block is suitable for postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing this surgery.