PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Nora Kizer AU - Israel Zighelboim AU - Janet S. Rader TI - Cardiac Arrest During Laparotomy With Argon Beam Coagulation of Metastatic Ovarian Cancer AID - 10.1111/IGC.0b013e31819c54db DP - 2009 Jan 01 TA - International Journal of Gynecologic Cancer PG - 237--238 VI - 19 IP - 2 4099 - http://ijgc.bmj.com/content/19/2/237.short 4100 - http://ijgc.bmj.com/content/19/2/237.full SO - Int J Gynecol Cancer2009 Jan 01; 19 AB - Background: The argon beam coagulation (ABC) is a safe and effective tool for surgical cytoreduction of metastatic ovarian carcinomas.Case: A 66-year-old woman with newly diagnosed advanced stage epithelial ovarian cancer underwent primary cytoreductive surgery involving ABC of tumor implants. Intraoperatively, she experienced cardiac arrest during use of the ABC. She was successfully resuscitated. The etiology of the arrest was thought to be secondary to a venous gas embolism.Conclusions: The risk associated with venous gas embolism in a laparotomy case is exceedingly low. This is the first case report of venous gas embolism during ABC in a surgical procedure for gynecologic malignancy. Proper monitoring and support services should always be immediately available when using ABC.