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Article: Clinical Features of Venous Air Embolism.
- Article from:
- Critical Care Alert
- Article date:
- December 1, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 A Thomson Healthcare Company. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Clinical Features of Venous Air Embolism
The development of VAE related to CVC may be silent and of no clinical significance in the mildest form. Often, patients are described to have cough or deep breathing due to respiratory distress prior to development of VAE. A hissing sound of a large amount of air entry has been described in case reports. Numerous cases have been described where patients complain of dyspnea and an inability to catch their breath. With larger air emboli, hypoxia, cyanosis and tachycardia are noted. If the air embolism is massive, the patient may develop cardiorespiratory arrest. If circulation is somewhat maintained, sudden shock with signs ...