Cerebral hemorrhage presenting as alteration of consciousness during the anesthesia recovery period -A case report-

Abstract

Catastrophic neurological events can occur rarely in anesthetic recovery period and they must be quickly diagnosed. We report here on a spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (SICH) that developed during the anesthesia recovery period in a 52-year-old man who had undergone uneventful orthopedic surgery. He had predisposing factors including 25 year history of heavy alcohol consumption and smoking. The risk of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage following non-cardiovascular and non-neurovascular surgery is exceedingly small during the anesthesia recovery period,especially for a patient with no history of hypertension and coagulopathy. We also describe the differential diagnosis of an altered mental status that occurs during anesthetic recovery period. (Anesth Pain Med 2011; 6: 266∼269)