Pulmonary Aspiration

Case Synopsis

A hypertensive 76-year-old woman presents for total hip arthroplasty after sustaining a fractured neck of femur during a mechanical fall. After uneventful intravenous induction, anesthesia is maintained by spontaneous ventilation of a volatile anesthetic via a supraglottic airway device. Soon after positioning on the operating table, the patient becomes tachypneic. A few minutes after surgery commences, the patient develops hypoxemia, respiration becomes noisy, and yellow liquid is identified in the breathing circuit and in the patient’s mouth.