Rare incidental presentation of urinary bladder paraganglioma and the anaesthetic challenges faced: A case report

Abstract

Urinary bladder paraganglioma is an extra-adrenal pheochromocytoma. As it lacks specific symptoms and because of its rare occurrence, it presents incidentally while tumour handling. A forty-eight-year-old female who presented with nausea, vomiting, weight loss, pain abdomen and hematuria was diagnosed with a bladder mass. She was scheduled for transurethral resection of the bladder tumour. On tumour manipulation, it showed numerous fluctuations in heart rate and blood pressure, from where a differential diagnosis of urinary bladder paraganglioma was made. Histopathology revealed a zellbellan pattern of paraganglioma. This case was discharged successfully postoperatively. But if undiagnosed preoperatively, it can be a real challenge because of the fatal hypertensive crisis and life-threatening cardiopulmonary complications.