Korean J Anesthesiol.  1992 Jun;25(3):627-630. 10.4097/kjae.1992.25.3.627.

Cardiac Arrest due to High Concentration Epinephrine Soaking on the Nasal Mucosa during Halothane Anesthesia

• Chean SM
• Lee HJ
• Cho SK

• KMID: 2090725
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4097/kjae.1992.25.3.627

Abstract

There is increasing tendency to use epinephrine injection or topical application to obtain clear operative field and hemostasis under general anesthesia. Even if the surgeons can get the good operative field for surgery, it is well known that the anesthetic problem may be anticipated due to using epinephrine under the halothane anesthesia. We experienced a case of cardiac arrest during halothane anesthesia due to inadvertant soaking with high concentration epinephrine cotton on the nasal cavity. The patient was resuscitated immediately and followed up carefully. Because the nasal cavity is in high vascularity, only soaking of epinephrine can cause cardiac arrest, so it well be preferable to have some attention for using the high concentration of epinephrine on the specific area.

Keyword

Epinephrine soaking; Halothane; Cardiac arrest

MeSH Terms

Anesthesia*
Anesthesia, General
Epinephrine*
Halothane*
Heart Arrest*
Hemostasis
Humans
Nasal Cavity
Nasal Mucosa*
Epinephrine
Halothane