Chang Gung medical journal
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Case Reports
Anesthetic management of a parturient undergoing cesarean section with a tracheal tumor and hemoptysis.
Anesthetic management of a parturient with respiratory failure associated with hemoptysis, dyspnea, and orthopnea is difficult. An anesthesiologist should realize that the patient's major problem is not solved during the surgery. This circumstance is similar to a patient with associated cardiac disease scheduled for non-cardiac surgery. ⋯ A decrease in cough strength, as well as dyspnea, orthopnea, and hyperventilation may be harmful to both the parturient and the fetus. However, we successfully managed this case using epidural anesthesia combined with assisted mask ventilation instead of spontaneous breathing usually provided by a simple mask in almost all American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) class I-II parturients during cesarean section. The anesthetic level was maintained at T8 with 18 ml of 2% Xylocaine mixed with 2 ml of 7% sodium bicarbonate with 1:200,000 epinephrine epidurally and with the patient in a supine position with the head up at 30 degrees to prevent cephalic spreading and to ensure better pulmonary ventilation.