Occurrence and removal of a knotted pulmonary artery catheter: a case report. 2007

Ladan Eshkevari, and Brandee M Baker
Georgetown University, School of Nursing and Health Studies, Washington, DC, USA. eshkevl@georgetown.edu

The challenge of treating older, obese patients with various comorbidities has become a mainstay of anesthetic practice. In order to monitor and provide anesthesia safely, the nurse anesthetist must weigh the risks and benefits of all types of monitoring when these patients undergo major invasive procedures. One such option is the Swan-Ganz pulmonary artery catheter. During the last decade an estimated 2 million pulmonary artery (Swan-Ganz) catheters were sold annually in the United States. Although the pulmonary artery catheter is a useful and popular monitoring tool, the potential for complications does exist, with some estimates suggesting a mortality rate of 0.02% to 1.5%. These figures, along with other complications, warrant consideration when evaluating the risks and benefits of this method of monitoring. The following case report describes one potential complication, a knot, and its management by the anesthesia care team in coordination with interventional radiology.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007431 Intraoperative Complications Complications that affect patients during surgery. They may or may not be associated with the disease for which the surgery is done, or within the same surgical procedure. Peroperative Complications,Surgical Injuries,Complication, Intraoperative,Complication, Peroperative,Injuries, Surgical,Complications, Intraoperative,Complications, Peroperative,Injury, Surgical,Intraoperative Complication,Peroperative Complication,Surgical Injury
D009719 Nurse Anesthetists Professional nurses who have completed postgraduate training in the administration of anesthetics. Anesthetist, Nurse,Anesthetists, Nurse,Nurse Anesthetist
D011859 Radiography Examination of any part of the body for diagnostic purposes by means of X-RAYS or GAMMA RAYS, recording the image on a sensitized surface (such as photographic film). Radiology, Diagnostic X-Ray,Roentgenography,X-Ray, Diagnostic,Diagnostic X-Ray,Diagnostic X-Ray Radiology,X-Ray Radiology, Diagnostic,Diagnostic X Ray,Diagnostic X Ray Radiology,Diagnostic X-Rays,Radiology, Diagnostic X Ray,X Ray Radiology, Diagnostic,X Ray, Diagnostic,X-Rays, Diagnostic
D002407 Catheterization, Swan-Ganz Placement of a balloon-tipped catheter into the pulmonary artery through the antecubital, subclavian, and sometimes the femoral vein. It is used to measure pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary artery wedge pressure which reflects left atrial pressure and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure. The catheter is threaded into the right atrium, the balloon is inflated and the catheter follows the blood flow through the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle and out into the pulmonary artery. Catheterization, Pulmonary Artery,Swan-Ganz Catheterization,Pulmonary Artery Catheterization,Artery Catheterization, Pulmonary,Artery Catheterizations, Pulmonary,Catheterization, Swan Ganz,Catheterizations, Pulmonary Artery,Pulmonary Artery Catheterizations,Swan Ganz Catheterization
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000368 Aged A person 65 years of age or older. For a person older than 79 years, AGED, 80 AND OVER is available. Elderly
D015642 Radiology, Interventional Subspecialty of radiology that combines organ system radiography, catheter techniques and sectional imaging. Interventional Radiology
D016343 Monitoring, Intraoperative The constant checking on the state or condition of a patient during the course of a surgical operation (e.g., checking of vital signs). Intraoperative Monitoring

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