Hypertensive crisis during percutaneous radiofrequency ablation of a metastatic adrenal tumor under general anesthesia: A case report

Jeon, Hee Hun; Chung, Rack Kyung; Lee, Heeseung; Kim, Jong Hak; Baik, Hee Jung; Han, Jong In

Case Report

General Article

Anesthesia and Pain Medicine 2014;9(1):70-72.
Published online January 30, 2014.

Hypertensive crisis during percutaneous radiofrequency ablation of a metastatic adrenal tumor under general anesthesia: A case report

Hee Hun Jeon, Rack Kyung Chung, Heeseung Lee, Jong Hak Kim, Hee Jung Baik, Jong In Han

Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. rkchung@ewha.ac.kr

Received: 23 January 2013 • Revised: 14 February 2013

Abstract

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has been used as an alternative method of surgical treatment to treat neoplasms of variable body organs. In considerable proportion of RFA cases, anesthesiologists are asked to conduct general anesthesia. RFA has been known to be a safe and effective treatment, however injury to adjacent normal tissue during RFA develops serious complications. In particular, unintended injury to normal adrenal tissue of adrenal tumors can cause severe complications such as hypertensive crisis due to excessive secretion of catecholamine. However, serious complications of primary or metastatic adrenal tumors have been rarely reported due to RFA. We report a case of hypertensive crisis with associated tachycardia and ventricular arrhythmia during RFA of hepatocellular carcinoma metastatic to the adrenal gland.

Key Words: Adrenal tumor, Catecholamine, Hypertensive crisis, Radiofrequency ablation (RFA)