A & A case reports
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Various equipment malfunctions of anesthesia gas delivery systems have been previously reported. Our profession increasingly uses technology as a means to prevent these errors. We report a case of a near-total anesthesia circuit obstruction that went undetected before the induction of anesthesia despite the use of automated machine check technology. This case highlights that automated machine check modules can fail to detect severe equipment failure and demonstrates how, even in this era of expanding technology, manual checks still remain essential components of safe care.
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Current literature reports a 3.1% incidence of durotomy with spine surgery, and this number increases to 15.9% with revision spine surgery. With the use of a blood patch to treat a dural tear, the anesthesia team was able to prevent a second reoperation. This treatment option offers anesthesiologists the opportunity to minimize further patient harm and increased cost associated with dural tears.
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As percutaneous cardiac interventions continue to evolve, high-risk procedures are being performed on patients deemed too ill for surgery. What were once considered lower-risk procedures compared with open cardiac interventions may no longer be so because of the complex nature of the interventions and the complex comorbidities of the patients on whom these are being performed. We present a case involving high-risk percutaneous cardiac interventions (left main coronary angioplasty and aortic balloon valvuloplasty), facilitated by the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a critically ill patient with severe aortic stenosis, left main coronary disease, and ischemic cardiomyopathy.