Repeated episodes of respiratory distress in an obese parturient after cesarean delivery

Bernard Wittels*, Tamer A. Attia, Abbas Al-Qamari, Matthew P. Jaycox

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

A 25-yr-old obese parturient with mild asthma underwent an uneventful spinal anesthetic for primary cesarean delivery. Within 4 h after delivery, the patient twice developed acute shortness of breath, inspiratory stridor, and hypoxemia that required intubation. A battery of blood tests revealed no evidence of an allergic reaction. She had a normal echocardiogram and chest computed tomography, but her neck computed tomography showed an enlarged left thyroid lobe asymmetrically compressing the endotracheal tube cuff. We hypothesized that, after delivery, decreased maternal vascular capacitance increased central venous pressure such that venous engorgement of an undiagnosed goiter may have caused symptomatic tracheal compression.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1246-1248
Number of pages3
JournalAnesthesia and analgesia
Volume108
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2009

Funding

Supported by Rush Department of Anesthesiology.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine

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