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International Expert Consensus and Recommendations for Neonatal Pneumothorax Ultrasound Diagnosis and Ultrasound-guided Thoracentesis Procedure
Published on: March 12, 2020
Pneumocephalus following thoracic surgery: the implication of the epidural anesthesia is still exceptional
Ariane Gentile1, Arnaud Germain, Alexandre Ouattara
1Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Hôpital du Haut-Lévêque, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) Bordeaux, Pessac, France.
Abstract:
Epidural analgesia is the gold standard for the management of pain after thoracopulmonary surgery. However, it is not without side-effects and complications. We report the case of a 52-year-old man who underwent left lower lobectomy for a carcinoid tumor. He received multimodal anesthesia combining epidural thoracic anesthesia and balanced intravenous general anesthesia. He presented with pneumocephalus on the 10th postoperative day. Etiological assessment consisted of isotopic cisternography and cerebromedullar magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), revealing a breach in the fourth left spinal dural nerve sheath. Although it was initially suspected, the thoracic epidural was eventually excluded as the cause. Management consisted of prompt surgical repair.
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