O2 Sat dropped during robotic surgery

supeters29

I was having a robotic total hysterectomy 2 days ago and 1 hour into the surgery my O2 Sat dropped to the high 80s. They made a decision to stop the surgery. So I’m recovering from the attempted procedure and will need pulmonary/cardiac evaluation before I go for round 2. I have no known serious issues in that regard but did have Vovid back in March. Wondered if anyone has had similar experience.

cmb

I’m sorry to hear about your situation. Some members here have had more than one surgery. This is usually because the doctor didn’t initially expect to find cancer and later went back for a more complete debulking. But I don’t remember a post about an interrupted surgery, although it may have happened and I’m just not familiar with the post(s).

But regardless, I’m sure it’s very disappointing to have had this happen and have to delay the completion until your pulmonary/cardiac evaluation is done. I hope you can get more clarity about your oxygen saturation level and that you’ll be able to complete your surgery soon.

MoeKay

Sorry to hear that your surgery had to be stopped due to a drop in your oxygen saturation. I think you may have meant to say that you had covid in March? (Since "c" and "v" are right next to each other on the keyboard, I think your statement that you had "vovid" was a typo. In any event, I'm providing a link to an article appearing in a publication of the American Society of Anesthesiologists entitled, "I'm in It for the Long Haul: Anesthetic Implications of Elective Surgery in the COVID-Recovered Patient." https://pubs.asahq.org/monitor/article/86/1/26/118115/I-m-in-It-for-the-Long-Haul-Anesthetic

The above article lays out the concerns in post-covid patients undergoing surgery. Table 1 provides recommended wait times for elective surgery based on covid clinical symptom severity. I hope your pulmonary and cardiac evaluations get to the bottom of things in short order and that you are able to have your surgery real soon!

NoTimeForCancer

supesters29, no doubt you are very disappointed to find out when you woke up they did not complete the surgery. I hope they are able to find out the root cause and how to best help so you can return to surgery soon. In all my time here on the board I do not believe I have ever heard anyone reporting this, but in this new world order, MoeKay's link to the article may be the root cause. (Such a great example of why I love this board! Someone just might know something like this that will help the others)

Please keep us posted.

supeters29

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1698066#Comment_1698066

Thank you for your kind response and reference to the article. Although I was disappointed I was thankful for their concern for safety first. I actually go for pulmonary function tests tomorrow and I believe they may elect to do the procedure differently next time. I have never had any underlying lung issues and think it may be the Trendelenburg position, sedation and that I’m a little overweight that may be the reason it happened but of course cannot rule out Covid. But hopeful for next round.