Delayed hypoxemia due to endobronchial intubation as a result of positioning the patient under general anesthesia: A case report

Oh, Saecheol; Chung, Ji Hyun; Lee, Sang Mook; Chung, Kyu Don; Cho, Hyun Sook; Han, Yun Joung; Kang, Byunggil

Case Report

Neuroanesthesia

Anesthesia and Pain Medicine 2011;6(1):63-66.
Published online January 31, 2011.

Delayed hypoxemia due to endobronchial intubation as a result of positioning the patient under general anesthesia: A case report

Saecheol Oh, Ji Hyun Chung, Sang Mook Lee, Kyu Don Chung, Hyun Sook Cho, Yun Joung Han, Byunggil Kang

¹Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
²Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Eulji University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea. lov126@nate.com

Abstract

Undetected endobronchial intubation during general anesthesia can cause serious complications. However, it is very difficult to determine the exact location of the endotracheal tube when it is positioned in the middle of the trachea. We experienced a patient who showed hypoxia caused by the positioning of the endobronchial tube. We think that the tube might have been advanced from the upper part of the carina into the right main bronchus while the neck was being flexed by the neurosurgeon for achieving better surgical exposure.

Key Words: Endobronchial intubation, Hypoxemia, Neck flexion, Surgical position