[Monitored anesthesia care for a patient with malignant pheochromocytoma]

Monitored anesthesia care (MAC) is being increasingly used in the 1990s for a wide variety of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The primary objective in providing MAC is to ensure patients' comfort and safety, whether in the operating room or in other places. We experienced MAC for a patient with pheochromocytoma. A 63-year-old man with hepatic metastasis of malignant pheochromocytoma, received transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) in the angiographic room. Hypertension and ventricular arrhythmia occurred during the hepatic arterial embolization. However, we successfully controlled the hemodynamic changes using phentolamine and propranolol under the close monitoring. He showed an uneventful recovery during postoperative period except for mild hypotension on the third day which needed temporary norepinephrine infusion.