Risks and outcomes of perioperative pulmonary aspiration.

A 95 kg, 34-year-old woman undergoes a laparoscopic tubal ligation. Shortly after endotracheal extubation and during transport to the PACU, she attempts to cough, and gags and vomits. As she is wheeled into the PACU, she is coughing and cyanotic. The anesthesiologist quickly reanesthetizes and reintubates her. Concerned that she may have aspirated the vomitus into her trachea, you suction her endotracheal tube and find thick bilious secretions. How important is pulmonary aspiration? What are the risk factors? When does aspiration occur during the perioperative period? How do you treat pulmonary aspiration? What went wrong here?