Key result
Intraoperative TEE is linked to a rare case of splenic laceration during cardiac surgery.
Why the study?
TEE is generally safe with rare gastrointestinal complications limited to the alimentary tract, but no reported injuries outside this tract exist.
Case Report (n=1)
Highlights a rare but severe extra-alimentary complication (splenic laceration) associated with intraoperative TEE use.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Raises awareness of rare splenic injury with intraoperative TEE; leaves open whether preventive strategies warrant prospective study.
T RANSESOPHAGEAL ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY (TEE) is increasingly used intraoperatively by anesthesiologists to provide real-time evaluation of cardiac and intrathoracic structures. Imaging through the esophagus and stomach provides an unobstructed view of these structures, aiding in their clinical management. TEE is generally considered safe. In a multicenter survey of 10,419 awake and sedated TEE examinations, overall significant complications occurred in only 0.18%. 1 Gastrointestinal complications, specifically, are even rarer. These complications have been reported to involve only the alimentary tract traversed by the TEE probe from the lips to the stomach. 1-4 To the authors' knowledge, no injury to tissue outside of the alimentary tract caused by the TEE probe has been reported. A case of splenic laceration after insertion and use of the TEE probe during cardiac surgery is described.
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Chow et al. (1998) conducted a case report in Splenic laceration (n=1). Transesophageal echocardiography was evaluated on Splenic laceration. Transesophageal echocardiography during cardiac surgery was associated with a rare case of splenic laceration, representing an unusual injury to tissue outside the alimentary tract.
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