Acute Pulmonary Embolism Following Gastroenterological Surgery


Arai Toshiyuki:Department of Surgery, Ogaki Municipal Hospital
Hachisuka Kitao:Department of Surgery, Ogaki Municipal Hospital
Yamaguchi Akihiro:Department of Surgery, Ogaki Municipal Hospital
Isogai Masatoshi:Department of Surgery, Ogaki Municipal Hospital
Hori Akihiro:Department of Surgery, Ogaki Municipal Hospital
Aono Keiya:Department of Surgery, Ogaki Municipal Hospital
Mori Naoharu:Department of Surgery, Ogaki Municipal Hospital
Maeda Atsuyuki:Department of Surgery, Ogaki Municipal Hospital
Kawai Masami:Department of Surgery, Ogaki Municipal Hospital
Takano Manabu:Department of Surgery, Ogaki Municipal Hospital
and others.

Eight cases in which acute pulmonary embolism (PE) developed during the past ten years following gastroenterological surgery were clinically reviewed. These cases represented 0.07% of all surgically treated patients for the same period. The average age of these patients was 65.5 years (55-73), including one man and seven women. There were seven cases of malignacy and one case of choleithiasis. Acute PE is strongly suspected if symptoms of dyspnea, chest pain, chest discomfort and acute circulatory insufficiency are observed towards the end of the recuperative period and if right ventricular dilatation is demonstrated by subsequent echocardiogram. Pulmonary arteriography is the most reliable method of diagnosing PE, as thrombi were recognized in all of the five cases examined. Five of eight patients survived following thrombolytic and anticoagulant therapy, but three patients died. Two of those three patients died within a few hours following the onset, but the other patient survived for 11 days by means of thrombolytic and anticaogulant therapy combined with a cardiopulmonary partial bypass procedure. Thromblytic and anticoagulant therapy are recommended as initial treatment for acute PE in addition to controlling circulation by employing a partial cardiopulmonary bypass procedure as circumstances demand.

The Japanese journal of gastroenterological surgery
27(9) pp.2135-2140 1994-09-01

 Keywords

acute pulmonary embolism
postoperative complication
thrombolytic and anticoagulant therapy
digital subtraction angiography

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