title: Entrapment of pulmonary artery catheter in a suture at the inferior vena cava cannulation site.
abstract: Entrapment of a pulmonary artery catheter (Swan-Ganz catheter) in the heart, vena cava, or pulmonary artery is a very rare and serious complication that may lead to life-threatening complications such as cardiac rupture, pulmonary artery rupture, cardiac tamponade, among others, if not recognized and treated early. We report entrapment of a Swan-Ganz catheter in the purse-string suture at the inferior vena cava cannulation site for a patient undergoing aortic valve replacement. This situation required a repeat sternotomy to release the pulmonary artery catheter.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Department of Surgery, Louisiana State University Health Science Center-Shreveport, Shreveport, LA 71130-3932, USA.
authors.forename: Liguang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Elsharydah
authors.forename: Atta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nawabi
authors.forename: Randall C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Cork
mesh_terms: D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000601:surgery; D002407:Catheterization, Swan-Ganz / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002408:Catheters, Indwelling; D004868:Equipment Failure; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation; D006801:Humans; D007431:Intraoperative Complications; D008875:Middle Aged; D013537:Sutures; D014682:Vena Cava, Inferior