Airway Compromise and Perioperative Management of a Patient with Acquired Factor XIII Inhibitor

A A Case Rep. 2015 May 1;4(9):120-4. doi: 10.1213/XAA.0000000000000130.

Abstract

Perioral hematomas can lead to acute airway compromise and can present significant challenges in both direct and indirect approaches to airway instrumentation. In patients with normal cell counts and routine coagulation tests, spontaneous hematomas are rare, but when encountered, they elicit a limited differential diagnosis that includes von Willebrand factor deficiency, platelet dysfunction, and the acquired factor XIII (FXIII) deficiency. Although spontaneous hematoma formation resulting from FXIII inhibition has been reported, we describe what may be the first reported case of FXIII inhibitor-related hematoma leading to acute airway compromise. Successful management of this patient required multidisciplinary cooperation among anesthesiologists, intensivists, otolaryngologists, and hematologists.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Airway Obstruction / diagnosis
  • Airway Obstruction / physiopathology*
  • Airway Obstruction / surgery
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Factor XIII / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Factor XIII / metabolism
  • Factor XIII Deficiency / blood*
  • Factor XIII Deficiency / diagnosis
  • Factor XIII Deficiency / drug therapy
  • Factor XIII Deficiency / physiopathology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Intubation, Intratracheal / methods
  • Mouth Floor / pathology
  • Perioperative Care / methods
  • Tracheostomy / methods
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Factor XIII