title: Coronary artery dissection in a patient with traumatic femoral shaft fracture.
abstract: We report a 24-year-old man who developed postoperative pulmonary edema and desaturation, after open reduction with internal fixation for left femoral shaft fracture sustained in a motorcycle accident. Cardiac catheterization revealed a left anterior descending coronary artery dissection. Review of his present history, showed that he neither had chest discomfort nor suffered from hemodynamic decompensation preoperatively. Only the abnormal 12-lead ECG with moderate tachycardia was suggestive of myocardial ischemia. Coronary artery dissection, although uncommon, is a disastrous complication following blunt chest trauma, and needs thorough preoperative evaluation to exclude its occurrence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
authors.forename: Yueh-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Feng-Fang
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Chi-Hsiang
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Hui-Hsun
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Shou-Zen
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Pei-Lin
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000784:Aortic Dissection / Q000209:etiology*; D003323:Coronary Aneurysm / Q000209:etiology*; D005264:Femoral Fractures / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D013898:Thoracic Injuries / Q000150:complications; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000150:complications; D055815:Young Adult