Anesthetic management for intraoperative acute pulmonary embolism during inferior vena cava tumor thrombus surgery: A case report

BACKGROUND: Acute pulmonary embolism (APE) is a rare and potentially life-threatening condition, even with early detection and prompt management. Intraoperative APE required specific ways for detecting since classic symptoms of APE in the awake patient could not be observed or self-reported by the patient under general anesthesia. CASE SUMMARY: A 44-year-old man with a history of hepatic cell carcinoma was admitted for radical nephrectomy and tumor thrombectomy due to a newly found kidney tumor with inferior vena cava (IVC) tumor thrombus. APE that occurred during tumor thrombectomy with hypercapnia and desaturation. The capnography combined with the transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) provided a crucial differential diagnosis during the operation. The patient was continuously managed with aggressive intravenous fluid resuscitation and blood transfusion under continuous cardiac output monitoring to maintain hemodynamic stability. He completed the surgery under stable hemodynamics and was extubated after percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy by a certified cardiologist. There were no significant symptoms and signs or obvious discomfort in the patient’s self-report during visits to the general ward. CONCLUSION: Under general anesthesia for IVC tumor thrombus surgery, a sudden decrease in end-tidal carbon dioxide is the initial indicator of APE, which occurs before hemodynamic changes. When intraoperative APE is suspected, TEE is useful in the diagnosis and monitoring before computer tomography pulmonary angiogram. Timely clinical impression and supportive treatment and intervention should be conducted to obtain a better prognosis.