Anesth Pain Med.  2009 Jan;4(1):32-35.

Difficult mechanical ventilation and hemodynamic caused by a main bronchial tumor : A case report

• Jung H
• Park SS

Abstract

Unidirectional obstruction of a bronchus from any cause results in hyperinflation or atelectasis of the distal area. We experienced a patient that showed expiratory airway obstruction and this was caused by check-valve mechanism of bronchial tumor during anesthetic induction for spine surgery. A 60-year-old-man, who had left hilar lung cancer, entered the operating room to undergo spine surgery for metastatic tumor. Immediately after intubation, the patient's breathing sounds were not heard at the left lung field, and the patient displayed severe hemodynamic instability. The chest X-ray showed hyperinflation of the left lung with mediastinal shifting to the right side. With spontaneous recovery of the patient's self-ventilation, the vital signs returned to normal. Three days later, the operation was performed successfully under spinal anesthesia.

Keyword

airway obstruction; check-valve mechanism; lung cancer

MeSH Terms

Airway Obstruction
Bronchi
Hemodynamics
Humans
Intubation
Lung
Lung Neoplasms
Operating Rooms
Pulmonary Atelectasis
Respiration, Artificial
Respiratory Sounds
Spine
Thorax
Vital Signs