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Review
. 2020 Jan 31;15(1):78-82.
doi: 10.17085/apm.2020.15.1.78.

Cardiac arrest caused by contralateral tension pneumothorax during one-lung ventilation: - A case report

Soo Kyung Lee  1 , Kwon Hui Seo  1 , You Jung Kim  1 , Eun Ji Youn  1 , Jun Suck Lee  1 , Jieun Park  1 , Hyun Soo Moon  1
Affiliations
Review

Cardiac arrest caused by contralateral tension pneumothorax during one-lung ventilation: - A case report

Soo Kyung Lee et al. Anesth Pain Med (Seoul). .

Abstract

Background: Tension pneumothorax on the contralateral lung during one-lung ventilation (OLV) can be life-threatening if not rapidly diagnosed and managed. However, diagnosis is often delayed because the classic signs of tension pneumothorax are similar to clinical manifestations commonly observed during OLV.

Case: We report a case of contralateral tension pneumothorax in a patient undergoing right upper lobectomy during OLV. The patient suffered from sudden cardiac arrest and was assisted by extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation.

Conclusions: Contralateral pneumothorax during OLV is rare but can occur at any time. Therefore, anesthesiologists should consider this critical complication.

Keywords: Heart arrest; One-lung ventilation; Pneumothorax; Thoracic surgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Chest computed tomography shows emphysema with bullae in the bilateral lung. Arrow indicates the large bulla on the left lung.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Chest anteroposterior shows marked pneumothorax in the left lung.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Chest anteroposterior immediately after insertion of the chest tube shows re-expansion of the left lung.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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