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

Soo Kyung Lee; Kwon Hui Seo; You Jung Kim; Eun Ji Youn; Jun Suck Lee; Jieun Park; Hyun Soo Moon

doi:10.17085/apm.2020.15.1.78

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

Anesth Pain Med (Seoul). 2020 Jan 31;15(1):78-82. doi: 10.17085/apm.2020.15.1.78.

Authors

Soo Kyung Lee¹, Kwon Hui Seo¹, You Jung Kim¹, Eun Ji Youn¹, Jun Suck Lee¹, Jieun Park¹, Hyun Soo Moon¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Korea.

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.

Publication types

Review