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A surprising cause of wheezing in a morbidly obese patient: a case report
Authors Kurnutala L, Joshi M, Kamath H, Yarmush J
Received 16 June 2014
Accepted for publication 21 August 2014
Published 21 October 2014 Volume 2014:7 Pages 143—145
DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/IMCRJ.S69474
Checked for plagiarism Yes
Review by Single anonymous peer review
Peer reviewer comments 2
Editor who approved publication: Professor Ronald Prineas
Video abstract presented by Lakshmi Kurnutala
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Lakshmi N Kurnutala, Minal Joshi, Hattiyangadi Kamath, Joel Yarmush
Department of Anesthesiology, New York Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Abstract: A typical patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has small airway disease, which often responds to bronchodilators. If the patient is obese, he or she may be further compromised and not tolerate being in the supine position. We present a case of a patient with history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and obstructive sleep apnea with acute renal failure and urosepsis scheduled for an emergent debridement of Fournier's gangrene. In this patient, the fiberoptic intubation was performed in semi-Fowler's position, and tracheomalacia was observed.
Keywords: tracheomalacia, difficult airway, fiberoptic intubation, COPD
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