Systemic Air Embolism Associated with Pleural Pigtail Chest Tube Insertion

Authors

Emad Alkhankan, Marshall University
Ahmad R. Nusair, Marshall UniversityFollow
Rida S. Mazagri, Marshall UniversityFollow
Mohammed Al-Ourani, Marshall UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-2016

Abstract

Pleural pigtail catheter placement is associated with many complications including pneumothorax, hemorrhage, and chest pain. Air embolism is a known but rare complication of pleural pigtail catheter insertion and has a high risk of occurrence with positive pressure ventilation. In this case report, we present a 50-year-old male with bilateral pneumonia who developed a pneumothorax while on mechanical ventilation with continuous positive airway pressure mode .During the placement of the pleural pigtail catheter to correct the pneumothorax, the patient developed a sudden left sided body weakness and became unresponsive. An air embolism was identified in the right main cerebral artery, which was fatal.

Comments

The copy of record is at http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/4053748. Copyright © 2016 Emad Alkhankan et al.

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Recommended Citation

Emad Alkhankan, Ahmad Nusair, Rida Mazagri, and Mohammed Al-Ourani, “Systemic Air Embolism Associated with Pleural Pigtail Chest Tube Insertion,” Case Reports in Pulmonology, vol. 2016, Article ID 4053748, 3 pages, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/4053748.