Cargando…

Nasal packing aspiration in a patient with Alzheimer’s disease: a rare complication

Nasal bleeding is a frequent problem for patients receiving anticoagulant agents. Most cases are successfully managed with anterior or posterior nasal packing. However, the complications of nasal packing should be always considered. We report the case of a 78-year-old man with Alzheimer’s disease wh...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Koudounarakis, Eleftherios, Chatzakis, Nikolaos, Papadakis, Ioannis, Panagiotaki, Irene, Velegrakis, George
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Dove Medical Press 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3413305/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22879779
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/IJGM.S34676
_version_ 1782240043339874304
author Koudounarakis, Eleftherios
Chatzakis, Nikolaos
Papadakis, Ioannis
Panagiotaki, Irene
Velegrakis, George
author_facet Koudounarakis, Eleftherios
Chatzakis, Nikolaos
Papadakis, Ioannis
Panagiotaki, Irene
Velegrakis, George
author_sort Koudounarakis, Eleftherios
collection PubMed
description Nasal bleeding is a frequent problem for patients receiving anticoagulant agents. Most cases are successfully managed with anterior or posterior nasal packing. However, the complications of nasal packing should be always considered. We report the case of a 78-year-old man with Alzheimer’s disease who was treated for anterior epistaxis with anterior nasal packing using three pieces of antibiotic-soaked gauze. Two days later, the patient was admitted to the emergency department in respiratory distress. A chest x-ray demonstrated atelectasis of the right lung. During an examination of the nasal cavities, the nasal packing was removed, and one of the gauze pieces was missing. The patient underwent rigid bronchoscopy, and the missing gauze was found to be obstructing the right main bronchus. The patient’s respiratory function improved considerably after removal of the foreign body. It is assumed that gauze packs should be used with caution in patients with an impaired level of consciousness and neurodegenerative diseases.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-3413305
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2012
publisher Dove Medical Press
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-34133052012-08-09 Nasal packing aspiration in a patient with Alzheimer’s disease: a rare complication Koudounarakis, Eleftherios Chatzakis, Nikolaos Papadakis, Ioannis Panagiotaki, Irene Velegrakis, George Int J Gen Med Case Report Nasal bleeding is a frequent problem for patients receiving anticoagulant agents. Most cases are successfully managed with anterior or posterior nasal packing. However, the complications of nasal packing should be always considered. We report the case of a 78-year-old man with Alzheimer’s disease who was treated for anterior epistaxis with anterior nasal packing using three pieces of antibiotic-soaked gauze. Two days later, the patient was admitted to the emergency department in respiratory distress. A chest x-ray demonstrated atelectasis of the right lung. During an examination of the nasal cavities, the nasal packing was removed, and one of the gauze pieces was missing. The patient underwent rigid bronchoscopy, and the missing gauze was found to be obstructing the right main bronchus. The patient’s respiratory function improved considerably after removal of the foreign body. It is assumed that gauze packs should be used with caution in patients with an impaired level of consciousness and neurodegenerative diseases. Dove Medical Press 2012-07-27 /pmc/articles/PMC3413305/ /pubmed/22879779 http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/IJGM.S34676 Text en © 2012 Koudounarakis et al, publisher and licensee Dove Medical Press Ltd. This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Case Report
Koudounarakis, Eleftherios
Chatzakis, Nikolaos
Papadakis, Ioannis
Panagiotaki, Irene
Velegrakis, George
Nasal packing aspiration in a patient with Alzheimer’s disease: a rare complication
title Nasal packing aspiration in a patient with Alzheimer’s disease: a rare complication
title_full Nasal packing aspiration in a patient with Alzheimer’s disease: a rare complication
title_fullStr Nasal packing aspiration in a patient with Alzheimer’s disease: a rare complication
title_full_unstemmed Nasal packing aspiration in a patient with Alzheimer’s disease: a rare complication
title_short Nasal packing aspiration in a patient with Alzheimer’s disease: a rare complication
title_sort nasal packing aspiration in a patient with alzheimer’s disease: a rare complication
topic Case Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3413305/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22879779
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/IJGM.S34676
work_keys_str_mv AT koudounarakiseleftherios nasalpackingaspirationinapatientwithalzheimersdiseaseararecomplication
AT chatzakisnikolaos nasalpackingaspirationinapatientwithalzheimersdiseaseararecomplication
AT papadakisioannis nasalpackingaspirationinapatientwithalzheimersdiseaseararecomplication
AT panagiotakiirene nasalpackingaspirationinapatientwithalzheimersdiseaseararecomplication
AT velegrakisgeorge nasalpackingaspirationinapatientwithalzheimersdiseaseararecomplication