Acute, unanticipated, and prolonged superior vena cava occlusion during pneumonectomy

Abstract

Acute, unanticipated superior vena cava (SVC) occlusion during thoracic surgery can have profound hemodynamic consequences and lead to devastating neurologic injury. We describe the successful anesthetic management of a pneumonectomy complicated by prolonged intraoperative SVC occlusion lasting a total of 290 minutes. To our knowledge, this represents the longest reported SVC occlusion time with no subsequent neurologic sequelae. Based on our favorable outcome and a review of the relevant literature, we offer a discussion of strategies for anesthetic management.