Treatment of massive systemic air embolism during lung biopsy

Percutaneous needle biopsy of lung lesions is commonly used and is usually regarded as a safe procedure with limited morbidity and extremely rare mortality. Most frequent complications are pneumothoax, pulmonary bleeding and hemoptysis. Other rare complications include systemic air embolus, tumor im...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Abbas Chamsuddin, Raja Ashou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2017-01-01
Series:The Arab Journal of Interventional Radiology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.arabjir.com/article.asp?issn=2542-7075;year=2017;volume=1;issue=1;spage=33;epage=36;aulast=Chamsuddin
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Summary:Percutaneous needle biopsy of lung lesions is commonly used and is usually regarded as a safe procedure with limited morbidity and extremely rare mortality. Most frequent complications are pneumothoax, pulmonary bleeding and hemoptysis. Other rare complications include systemic air embolus, tumor implantation and empyema. Systemic air emboli are extremely rare with a published incidence of 0.02' from a lung biopsy survey in the United Kingdom to 0.07' in the literature, but are serious and can be fatal. We present a case of massive air embolism occurring during lung biopsy and describe the technique used for immediate treatment.
ISSN:2542-7075
2542-7083