Category Anesthesia

Fetal Distress

Case Synopsis A 38-year-old, 120-kg primigravida with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes presents at 35 weeks’ gestation with ruptured membranes and a temperature of 38.5°C. The decision is made to induce labor. During labor the obstetrician declares that the electronic…

Extremity Tourniquets

Case Synopsis A 75-year-old woman is undergoing a revision of a left total knee arthroplasty under spinal anesthesia and intravenous sedation. She is morbidly obese, on chronic opioids for pain relief, and an insulin-dependent diabetic. A continuous adductor canal catheter…

Complications of Spinal Surgery

Case Synopsis A 78-year-old man with morbid obesity (body mass index [BMI] 43), chronic atrial fibrillation on dabigatran (discontinued 5 days prior), and metastatic renal cell carcinoma to T8 is undergoing corpectomy and multilevel instrumented fusion using propofol-based total intravenous…

Complications of Lithotripsy

Case Synopsis A 78-year-old woman with a history of severe coronary artery disease underwent extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy with general anesthesia. Ten minutes after placement in the water bath, the patient’s heart rate increased from 78 to 138 beats per…