| Hypercapnic coma at the postanesthesia care unit: A case report. |
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Yong Hun Lee, Myong Sook Jeon, Kook Hyun Lee, Chul Woo Jung |
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Department of Anesthesiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. spss@snuh.org |
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| Abstract |
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A 59-year-old woman underwent explorative laparotomy under general anesthesia for mechanical ileus. The patient had rectal cancer with multiple metastasis, and was receiving 1.5-2 mg of intravenous morphine per hour due to severe abdominal pain. After about 3 hours of general anesthesia, the patient was extubated and transferred to postanesthesia care unit. The patient was supplied with 6 L/min of oxygen by facial mask. In 30 minutes, the patient showed no response to verbal order and pain stimulus with sluggish eye reflex, although pulse-oximeter showed 98-99%. After emergent intubation, arterial blood gas was sampled, and the result showed severe acidosis with hypercapnia. The patient was transferred to intensive care unit, and after 1 hour of mechanical ventilation the patient became conscious then fully recovered without further complication. |
| Key Words:
Carbon dioxide; Coma; Opioid |
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