Acute Massive Pulmonary Thromboembolism Occurring during Femur Surgery: The Key Role of Transesophageal Echocardiography : A case report.
- Author:
Hyun Jee KIM
1
;
Kyung Hwa KWAK
;
Young Hoon JEON
;
Si Oh KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea. hwakkh@hotmail.com
- Publication Type:Case Report
- Keywords:
general anesthesia;
pulmonary thromboembolism;
transesophageal echocardiography
- MeSH:
Anesthesia, General;
Cardiopulmonary Bypass;
Echocardiography, Transesophageal;
Embolectomy;
Femur;
Heart Atria;
Heart Ventricles;
Humans;
Hypokinesia;
Oxygen;
Pulmonary Embolism;
Vital Signs
- From:Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
2008;3(2):128-130
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
We experienced a case, which showed the sudden drop of arterial oxygen saturation and capnographic score in a femur surgery patient under general anesthesia. We installed a transesophageal echocardiography probe in the patient and detected free-floating emboli in the right atrium, enlargement of the right atrium and the right ventricle, and global hypokinesia of the right ventricle. Because the patient's vital sign was so unstable, emergent cardiac and pulmonary embolectomy was performed with the use of cardiopulmonary bypass. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged without any neurologic sequale. We concluded that transesophageal echocardiography was a useful device for the diagnosis of intraoperative massive pulmonary thromboembolism.
