- Gum on probe hinders scan
- Chewing during procedure caused
- Successful LAAO device implant
Upon inserting a camera probe down the oesophagus of a patient, physicians anticipated observing a distinct outline of the patient’s heart. They were perplexed when it displayed nothing.
Suspecting probe damage, surgeons removed it, finding a chewing gum fragment adhered to it.
Anaesthetists, who administered anaesthesia to the patient, disclosed that the unidentified 69-year-old from New Hampshire had been gum-chewing before the procedure.
Physicians from the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Centre wrote in the journal CASE, “They refused to spit out the gum when instructed and instead swallowed it.”
They expressed astonishment, sharing an image of the blue gum affixed to the probe.
The potentially life-saving left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) device insertion prevented blood clot formation in the heart, reducing stroke risk for patients contraindicated for anticoagulants.
The patient had not consumed any food or liquids since the evening before.
Physicians conducted an ultrasound before the LAAO procedure to detect clots in the left atrial appendage. They accomplished this by inserting an ultrasound catheter into the oesophagus via the oral cavity.
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The operation would be delayed until the clot completely resolved.
Despite inserting the instrument approximately 35 centimetres down the patient’s oesophagus, medical professionals were unable to detect any “identifiable cardiac structures.”
Medical professionals noted image degradation due to confined air was “relatively common.”
Despite shifting the probe and adjusting device parameters, the image quality remained “identical.”
Doctors, presuming the instrument was defective, removed it for replacement.
After extracting the gum and reintroducing the probe, physicians obtained a distinct image of the heart. The operation continued successfully as there was no indication of an embolism.
The physicians detailed in their report that this was the first time in their careers that gum chewing disrupted the scan.
They noted, “Despite a brief procedural delay, the patient could still have the LAAO device implanted successfully.”
In contrast, should the tissue have detached from the probe during removal, the team would have been left bewildered.
Besides “opaque substances” sheathing the probe, inaccurate probe temperature, device malfunction, or patient anatomy can also obscure results.
