Postoperative Shock After Bariatric Surgery: The Role of Point-of-Care Cardiac Ultrasound

Abstract

On the fifth day after surgery, during the postoperative period of bypass gastric surgery, a patient returned to the emergency department complaining of acute chest pain. Initially, acute coronary injury was suspected. The main hypothesis was ruled out after angiography revealed no thrombotic evidence. Thus, a diagnosis of Takotsubo syndrome was considered after the on-call anesthesiology team performed a bedside echocardiogram in the hemodynamics room. This report highlights the importance of cardiac ultrasound as a tool to detect anomalies and guide treatment and prognosis.