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Peer-reviewedCC BYRespiratory medicine case reports

Sevoflurane-associated diffuse alveolar hemorrhage: A rare cause of postoperative dyspnea. Case report and literature review.

  • Amir Ashiq1
  • Rabia Ahmed2
  • Muhammad Waqas3
  • Fatima Anwar4
4 affiliations
  1. 1Hospitalist, Hillcrest Health System, Tulsa, OK, USA.
  2. 2Department of Medicine Dow International Medical College, DUHS, Karachi, Pakistan.
  3. 3Hospitalist, Rochester General Hospital, Rochester, NY, USA.
  4. 4Department of Medicine, Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan.
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Abstract

Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) is a rare, life threatening, early post-operative pulmonary complication of inhaled anesthetics, which are used for induction and maintenance of general anesthesia. It refers to hemorrhage originating from pulmonary microcirculation. It presents with hemoptysis, anemia, diffuse lung infiltration, and acute respiratory failure. Common causes are systemic vasculitis, Collagen vascular disease, Bone marrow transplantation, Drugs, and idiopathic conditions. Treatment ranges from supportive care and withdrawal of offending drugs to high-dose steroids, immunosuppressants, and plasmapheresis. Sevoflurane induced diffuse alveolar hemorrhage is a rarely reported entity in the literature that clinicians should be aware of and consider among the post-operative causes of dyspnea while ruling out other etiologies. We present a literature review over sevoflurane induced diffuse alveolar hemorrhage and a case involving a young otherwise healthy patient who underwent surgery for metatarsal fractures under general anesthesia, but diffuse alveolar hemorrhage developed after sevoflurane inhalation in the postoperative period.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{ashiq2026sevofluraneassociated,
  title = {{Sevoflurane-associated diffuse alveolar hemorrhage: A rare cause of postoperative dyspnea. Case report and literature review.}},
  author = {Amir Ashiq and Rabia Ahmed and Muhammad Waqas and Fatima Anwar},
  journal = {Respiratory medicine case reports},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1016/j.rmcr.2026.102513},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898071},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Sevoflurane-associated diffuse alveolar hemorrhage: A rare cause of postoperative dyspnea. Case report and literature review.
AU  - Amir Ashiq
AU  - Rabia Ahmed
AU  - Muhammad Waqas
AU  - Fatima Anwar
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/01
JO  - Respiratory medicine case reports
DO  - 10.1016/j.rmcr.2026.102513
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898071
AB  - Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) is a rare, life threatening, early post-operative pulmonary complication of inhaled anesthetics, which are used for induction and maintenance of general anesthesia. It refers to hemorrhage originating from pulmonary microcirculation. It presents with hemoptysis, anemia, diffuse lung infiltration, and acute respiratory failure. Common causes are systemic vasculitis, Collagen vascular disease, Bone marrow transplantation, Drugs, and idiopathic conditions. Treatment ranges from supportive care and withdrawal of offending drugs to high-dose steroids, immunosuppressants, and plasmapheresis. Sevoflurane induced diffuse alveolar hemorrhage is a rarely reported entity in the literature that clinicians should be aware of and consider among the post-operative causes of dyspnea while ruling out other etiologies. We present a literature review over sevoflurane induced diffuse alveolar hemorrhage and a case involving a young otherwise healthy patient who underwent surgery for metatarsal fractures under general anesthesia, but diffuse alveolar hemorrhage developed after sevoflurane inhalation in the postoperative period.
SN  - 2213-0071
ER  -