{"title":"Venous air emboli during esophagoscopy confirmed by computed tomographic pulmonary angiography -a case report.","authors":"Thadakorn Tantisarasart, Thara Tantichamnankul, Chanatthee Kitsiripant, Panjai Choochuen","doi":"10.4097/kja.23722","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) is vital for the diagnosis and treatment of various gastrointestinal conditions but carries a low risk of venous air embolism (VAE). We report a case of VAE during EGD, confirmed by computed tomographic pulmonary angiography (CTPA).</p><p><strong>Case: </strong>A 56-year-old male with a history of hypopharyngeal cancer underwent EGD for dysphagia-related esophageal dilation. Signs of VAE were noted, prompting swift interventions, including oxygen therapy, positional changes, and CTPA. CTPA revealed the Mercedes-Benz sign, pneumomediastinum, and a minimal pneumothorax. The patient's oxygen saturation improved within 30 min before undergoing CTPA, and he was discharged on postoperative day 4.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Timely recognition of VAE, resulting in appropriate interventions supported by CTPA, resulted in favorable patient outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":17855,"journal":{"name":"Korean Journal of Anesthesiology","volume":" ","pages":"278-281"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10982525/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Korean Journal of Anesthesiology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4097/kja.23722","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2023/11/29 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ANESTHESIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) is vital for the diagnosis and treatment of various gastrointestinal conditions but carries a low risk of venous air embolism (VAE). We report a case of VAE during EGD, confirmed by computed tomographic pulmonary angiography (CTPA).
Case: A 56-year-old male with a history of hypopharyngeal cancer underwent EGD for dysphagia-related esophageal dilation. Signs of VAE were noted, prompting swift interventions, including oxygen therapy, positional changes, and CTPA. CTPA revealed the Mercedes-Benz sign, pneumomediastinum, and a minimal pneumothorax. The patient's oxygen saturation improved within 30 min before undergoing CTPA, and he was discharged on postoperative day 4.
Conclusions: Timely recognition of VAE, resulting in appropriate interventions supported by CTPA, resulted in favorable patient outcomes.