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Article: Venous air embolism during liver transplantation
- Article from:
- Anaesthesia and Intensive Care
- Article date:
- December 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Australian Society of Anaesthetists Dec 2001. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Correspondence
A 24-year-old woman weighing 54 kg with recurrent acute hepatitis and rapidly deteriorating liver function was admitted for orthotopic liver transplantation. Preoperatively, she was in liver failure with severe jaundice and generalized oedema. Her international normalized ratio was 4.6 (normal=1.0). ECG showed T wave inversion in chest leads V1-6. Her chest X-ray was clear.
Rapid sequence induction of anaesthesia was performed with fentanyl 0.1 mg, etomidate 14 mg and suxamethonium 75 mg. The trachea was intubated and the lungs were mechanically ventilated. Two 7.5 French gauge Swan Ganz sheaths were inserted into the right internal jugular vein and connected to a rapid ...