Lateral position intubation followed by endoscopic ultrasoundguided angiotherapy in acute esophageal variceal rupture: A case report

BACKGROUND Massive esophageal variceal bleeding can be catastrophic,leading to high morbidity and mortality.Patients experiencing massive esophageal variceal bleeding are at high risk of aspiration and hemorrhagic shock in acute episodes.Intubation and bleeding control are the two essential steps for resuscitation of these patients.CASE SUMMARY A 47-year-old male patient was admitted to our hospital with upper digestive tract bleeding.He was diagnosed with alcohol-induced liver cirrhosis and consequent esophagogastric varices.As he did not show a good response to somatostatin and Sengstaken-Blakemore tube placement,the patient was scheduled for endoscopic angiotherapy under anesthesia.Preoperative assessment showed an ASA physical status of III and Child-Pugh classification B.However,massive hemorrhage occurred just after induction of anesthesia.Intubation by video-guided laryngoscopy in the lateral decubitus position was attempted twice and was successful.After that,an experienced endoscopic ultrasound(EUS)specialist performed angiotherapy and occluded the culprit vessel.An ultra-thin gastroscope was then inserted into the endotracheal tube to extract the blood observed in the lobar bronchi.The patient suffered hemorrhagic shock with an estimated blood loss of 1500 mL in 20 min and remained in the intensive care unit for two days.The patient was discharged from our hospital eight days later without major complications.CONCLUSION Intubation in the lateral decubitus position and EUS-guided treatment can be lifesaving procedures in patients with massive upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage.

Plasma gelsolin level predicts acute kidney injury after cardiopulmonary bypass in infants and young children

Background Acute kidney injury(AKI)after cardiopulmonary bypass(CPB)is a common complication especially in pedi-atric population.Plasma gelsolin(pGSN)is an anti-inflammatory factor through binding with actin and pro-inflammatory cytokines in circulation.Decrease in pGSN has been reported in some pathologic conditions.The purpose of the study was to determine the alterations of pGSN level in infants and young children after CPB and the role of pGSN as a predictor for the morbidity and severity of post-CPB AKI.Methods Sixty-seven infants and young children at age≤3 years old undergoing CPB were prospectively enrolled.PGSN levels were measured during peri-operative period with enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay and normalized with plasma total protein concentration.Other clinical characteristics of the patients were also recorded.Results In patients developing AKI,the normalized pGSN(pGSN_(N))levels significantly decreased at 6 h post-operation and remained low for 24 h post-operation as compared to the patients with non-AKI.PGSNN at 6 h post-operation combining with CPB time presents an excellent predictive value for AKI.Conclusions Decreased pGSN_(N)identifies post-CPB AKI in the patients≤3 years old,and is associated with adverse clini-cal outcomes.The findings suggest that circulating GSN in post-CPB patients may have beneficial effects on diminishing inflammatory responses.