A Successful Awake Fiberoptic Bronchoscopy Intubation of a Cardiomorbid Patient: A Case Report

Abstract

Bronchoscopy is a widely used technique for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Though it requires anesthesia, many options are available, depending on the patient’s health status, the purpose of the procedure, and the type of bronchoscope used. One such health status is heart failure, a leading cause of death, and a common challenge of anesthesiology. We report a 60-year-old male patient who is a known case of heart failure with an ejection fraction of 15%, and an implanted cardioverter defibrillator, along with concurrent ischemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension, who presented complaining of dysphagia. This highly morbid patient was able to successfully undergo a bronchoscopic biopsy with nerve block anesthesia considering his inadequacy for conventional methods. This report aims to shed light on these challenging cases and alert anesthesiologists on how to manage such situations in patients with cardiac morbidities.

Keywords

• awake bronchoscopy
• case report
• heart failure
• nerve block techniques
• palestine