Revista española de anestesiología y reanimación
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Rev Esp Anestesiol Reanim · Jan 2014
Case Reports[Extreme leucocytosis can lead to an erroneous diagnosis of severe hypoxaemia. Description of a case].
The diagnosis and treatment of respiratory failure is a part of the anaesthesist's daily practice, as well as the hypoxaemia that is one of its physiological and analytical consequences. Patients with an extreme leucocytosis secondary to leukaemia can suffer an incorrect diagnosis of hypoxemia, called "pseudohypoxaemia". This is basically due to the rapid in vitro oxygen consumption, and is characterized by a low partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood (PaO2) despite a normal oxygen saturation (SpO2) measured by pulse oximetry. ⋯ It must be suspected in patients with a discrepancy between the SpO2 measured by oximetry and the PaO2. In this context, pulse oximetry is the most accurate way to establish the diagnosis and to avoid unnecessary actions. We report the case of a patient with chronic myeloid leukaemia and extreme leucocytosis requiring emergency surgery, and diagnosed with pseudohypoxaemia during the perioperative period that led to a delay in the extubation of the patient.
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Rev Esp Anestesiol Reanim · Jan 2014
Review[Cervical spine instability: point of view of the anesthesiologist].
The experience in airway management permits the anesthesiologist to participate in cases of cervical spine instability in the operating room when the patient is subjected to surgical procedures, or in cases of difficulty to access or keep the airway open in emergencies. This article reviews the epidemiology, definition, etiology, diagnostic criteria, methods of approach to airway management, and current recommendations on handling cervical instability in different scenarios. There is no approach to the airway that ensures complete immobility of the cervical spine, but there are methods that are better adapted to specific contexts; at the end, the reader will be able to identify the virtues and defects of the various options that the anesthesiologists have to address the airway in cases of cervical instability.