Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Nov 16, 2021; 9(32): 9960-9969
Published online Nov 16, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i32.9960
Respiratory failure after scoliosis correction surgery in patients with Prader-Willi syndrome: Two case reports
Ju-Yul Yoon, Sung-Hee Park, Yu Hui Won
Ju-Yul Yoon, Sung-Hee Park, Yu Hui Won, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Jeonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju 54907, Jeonbuk, South Korea
Sung-Hee Park, Yu Hui Won, Research Institute of Clinical Medicine of Jeonbuk National University - Biomedical Research Institute of Jeonbuk National University Hospital, Jeonju 54907, Jeonbuk, South Korea
Author contributions: Won YH and Park SH contributed to the conception and design of the study or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; Won YH and Yoon JY contributed to the drafting of the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and all authors provided final approval of the version to be submitted.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yu Hui Won, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Jeonbuk National University Medical School, 20 Geonjiro, Jeonju 54907, Jeonbuk, South Korea. wonyh@jbnu.ac.kr
Received: June 14, 2021
Peer-review started: June 14, 2021
First decision: July 26, 2021
Revised: August 3, 2021
Accepted: September 15, 2021
Article in press: September 15, 2021
Published online: November 16, 2021
Core Tip

Core Tip: We describe two cases of adolescent Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) with typical characteristics, such as obesity, mental retardation, and scoliosis, in which respiratory failure with severe desaturation and hypercapnia occurred after scoliosis correction surgery. Respiratory failure was confirmed and diagnosed by polysomnography (PSG) and transcutaneous CO2 monitoring and successfully treated with overnight noninvasive ventilation. These cases highlight the need for objective respiratory tests and timely respiratory support through perioperative and periodic pulmonary check-ups in PWS patients with cognitive decline. Guidelines for full PSG studies, including CO2 monitoring, should be framed to detect hypoventilation within a certain time post-surgery for scoliosis.