ABSTRACT
A 12-year-old boy presented for biopsy of a large mediastinal mass. General anaesthesia precipitated immediate severe airway obstruction. This was overcome by the insertion of two microlaryngeal tubes, one into each main bronchus. The anaesthetic management of patients with an anterior mediastinal mass is discussed and the importance of pre-operative assessment stressed.
Subject(s)
Airway Obstruction/etiology , Anesthesia, General/adverse effects , Intubation, Intratracheal/adverse effects , Lymphoma/pathology , Mediastinal Neoplasms/pathology , Biopsy , Child , Humans , Male , T-LymphocytesABSTRACT
Three-thousand and eleven consecutive obstetric extradural blocks were evaluated retrospectively. The distance from the skin to the extradural space was correlated with the incidence of unilateral blockade. There was a significant correlation (P less than 0.001) between an increasing distance and increased incidence of unilateral block. We propose that this is because of the topography of the extradural space, and because of the deviation of the tip of the needle from the midline (when using a midline approach).
