Venous air emboli and computed axial tomography power contrast injectors

Received 17 June 2008; received in revised form 8 August 2008 published online 30 January 2009.

Abstract

A 47-year-old female presented to our level 1 trauma center following a single vehicle rollover. The computed tomography power injector was not appropriately primed with contrast, resulting in a large venous air embolus.

Keywords: Trauma, Air Embolism, Computed Tomography

Department of Surgery, Grady Memorial Hospital, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-404-616-3553; fax: +1-404-616-7333

PII: S0002-9610(08)00689-2

doi:10.1016/j.amjsurg.2008.08.010

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