A 29 year-old woman with a history of asthma since childhood was admitted for arthroscopic repair of an injured knee.

For years she had been on maintenance doses of cromolyn sodium and theophylline, was well-controlled, not having had any exacerbation of her asthma during the past three years.

The preoperative workup did not reveal any evidence of bronchospasm.

case author: Hugh S. Mathewson, M.D., Professor Emeritus, School of Allied Health, Department of Nurse Anesthesia,
University of Kansas Medical Center case editor: Michael Gordon, Ph.D. Associate Professor, University of Kansas Medical Center