A&A practice
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A 15-year-old boy with X-linked myotubular myopathy associated with severe hypotonia and pectus excavatum presented for posterior spinal fusion of T2-sacrum because of rest pain and severe progressive neuromuscular scoliosis. Previously, he experienced 2 separate instances of cardiac arrest after prone positioning under general anesthesia. A preoperative computed topography angiogram in the supine and prone positions revealed inferior vena cava and right ventricular outflow tract obstruction on prone positioning. Successful positioning and posterior spinal fusion occurred by staging the procedure, correction of volume status, early use of vasoactive and inotropic agents, and oblique prone positioning.
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We present a case of a 63-year-old man with nasocutaneous fistula located outside the area covered by a large adult facemask. The patient was uncooperative for the standard airway assessment and any attempt at awake intubation. ⋯ Although the incidence of overall complications, including fistula formation, following free flap reconstruction for oropharyngeal cancer is reported as high as 20%, few case reports detailing airway management exist. We demonstrate that it is possible to use conventional techniques to induce and ventilate a patient with a large, externalized, airway fistula by covering the defect with an occlusive transparent dressing.
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A 62-year-old male patient suddenly developed severe dyspnea due to bilateral vocal cord paralysis (VCP) 4 days after an abdominal surgery. Emergent tracheostomy effectively improved the patient's respiratory status. The present case report emphasizes that bilateral VCP could occur even several days after an abdominal surgery in patients with multiple risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, an older age, male sex, and an upper abdominal surgery. Even if the patient does not present with hoarseness, bilateral VCP should not be ruled out, because a slight phonetic change can be the only symptom of early-stage bilateral VCP.
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Intrathecal patient-controlled analgesia (IT-PCA) through implanted intrathecal infusion pumps has been increasingly utilized for severe cancer and chronic noncancer pain management. However, its application for acute postoperative pain management has not been reported to date. ⋯ The IT-PCA functionality of her intrathecal pump was successfully integrated into her postoperative multimodal pain regimen. Hence, IT-PCA can be safely incorporated into acute postoperative pain management with vigilant monitoring and close multidisciplinary collaboration.