A 74-year-old female with history of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and uterine adenocarcinoma presented for CT-guided lung biopsy that was ultimately complicated by an arterial air embolus requiring intensive care. Systemic air embolism is a very rare event but can be devastating. Prompt recognition can be difficult due to an often-vague presentation but is essential and should be considered upon rapid deterioration of a patient's status following high risk procedures. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is preferred; however, if this is unavailable, additional treatments are predominately supportive care with 100% supplemental oxygen, rapid volume expansion, and ionotropic medications as needed.
Keywords: Arterial air embolism; Hyperbaric oxygen therapy; Lung biopsy; Pneumothorax; RRT, Rapid Response Team; TTE, Transthoracic echocardiogram.
© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of University of Washington.