title: [Pneumothorax and cardiac arrest as complications of postoperative nasopharyngeal administration of oxygen].
abstract: An unusual but life-threatening complication to nasopharyngeal oxygen administration is described. Following an unsuccessful attempt to advance nasogastric tube during anesthesia for cholecystectomy, the same nostril was used for an oxygen catheter at the end of operation. Within a few minutes after the oxygen supply had been opened following extubation, the patient developed submucous pharyngeal and mediastinal emphysema with subsequent bilateral pneumothorax and cardiac arrest. The patient was reintubated, received close-chest cardiac compressions for a brief period, and the pneumothoraces were drained. She recovered completely within a few hours and was extubated uneventfully the following day. With the increasing--and justified--use of oxygen postoperatively in and during transport to the recovery room, this complication is likely to occur more often. In this case, the anesthetist's previous experience of this complication and consequent rapid therapeutic intervention was probably responsible for the favorable outcome.
authors.affiliation: Anästhesiabteilung, Städtisches Krankenhaus, Lörrach.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schou
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Heppeler
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000762:Anesthesia Recovery Period; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D009305:Nasopharynx; D010100:Oxygen / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000209:etiology*
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
vernacular_title: Pneumothorax und Herzstillstand als Komplikation der postoperativen nasopharyngealen Sauerstoffapplikation.