Anesthetic care of a pregnant patient for AICD battery change.

Abstract

Urgent or emergent surgical procedures may be required during pregnancy. During this time, the perioperative care extends to include not only the patient but also mon- itoring and preservation of the fetal well-being. Assur- ance of adequate placental blood flow, avoidance of ter- atogenic agents, and prevention of preterm labor add to the complexity of perioperative management. We present a 35-year-old woman who required anesthetic care at 12 weeks gestation for exchange of a battery in her au- tomatic implantable cardiac defibrillator (AICD). The physiologic changes induced by pregnancy are presented, their anesthetic impact reviewed, and specific periopera- tive considerations of the pregnant patient discussed.

Keywords

• pregnancy
• tetratogenesis
• dexmedetomidine