We report a case of drug-induced laryngospasm due to Chlorpromazine. A drug-induced laryngospasm has not been previously reported in the literature. A 70-year-old male with the proximal end fracture of the femur was scheduled for the operative fixation. He had a past history of alcoholism and had underwent a long-term chlorpromazine therapy for 45 years until admission to our hospital. There have been a few reports on unexplained sudden deaths of patients receiving long-term treatment with chlorpromazine. Caution was therefore needed in general anesthesia, which was thought to be safer than epidural or spinal anesthesia in this case. Accordingly for the preparation of an emergency operation, the central venous catheterization via the internal jugular vein was performed under subcutaneous injection of lidocaine. Severe dyspnea and cyanosis occurred a few minutes after the administration of lidocaine. The specific diagnosis of laryngospasm was made by inspection of the vocal cords. Immediate oral intubation was performed and no complications ensued during and after the operation. This episode strongly suggests that one reason of the unexplained sudden deaths of patients receiving long term treatment with chlorpromazine could be laryngospasm. In conclusion, anesthesiologists should be aware of the possibility of laryngospasm under similar conditions.
Haemodynamic alterations elicited by iced injectate during thermodilution cardiac output measurements were evaluated in the presence of metabolic acidosis or hypoxic hypoxia in 14 instrumented anaesthetized dogs. The alterations in some haemodynamic variables during slowing of the heart rate following injection of 3 ml iced injectate were slightly greater in metabolic acidosis and hypoxic hypoxia as compared to animals without metabolic acidosis or hypoxic hypoxia (P < 0.05), but the changes were clinically insignificant. No serious haemodynamic changes were found during any cardiac output measurement by thermodilution in the presence of metabolic acidosis or hypoxic hypoxia. The values of cardiac output measured by thermodilution correlated closely with those of pulmonary blood flow measured by an electromagnetic flowmeter in the metabolic acidosis and hypoxic hypoxia groups (r > 0.9). It is concluded that thermodilution using iced injectate will estimate right ventricular output accurately in conditions of metabolic acidosis and hypoxic hypoxia.
Positive or negative chronotropic effects of atropine and their magnitude are known to be determined primarily by patient's age, atropine dose, anesthetic agents or techniques, and preanesthetic medication. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of oral diazepam upon the hemodynamic responses to intravenous atropine in awake patients. Diazepam group (n = 26) received oral diazepam, 10 mg, whereas control group (n = 20) received no premedication. The direction and magnitude of heart rate and blood pressure responses to atropine were similar between the two groups. Heart rate significantly decreased from baseline values following atropine, 2.5 micrograms.kg-1, returned to baseline values following cumulative atropine doses, 5 micrograms.kg-1, then significantly increased from baseline values following cumulative atropine dose, 10 micrograms.kg-1 in both groups. Mean blood pressure significantly decreased from baseline values following cumulative atropine dose, 2.5 and 5 micrograms.kg-1, and returned to baseline following cumulative atropine dose, 10 micrograms.kg-1, in both groups. It is concluded that oral diazepam, 10 mg, as a premedicant does not alter the hemodynamic responses to intravenous atropine in humans.
The authors studied 34 patients undergoing abdominal total hysterectomy in order to evaluate whether epidural clonidine added to lidocaine solution could alter the requirements of sedatives during epidural anesthesia. Patients were randomly assigned to one of four groups; 18 ml of 2% lidocaine with 1:200,000 clonidine (n = 6), 1:100,000 clonidine (n = 7), 1:200,000 epinephrine (n = 13), or neither (plain, n = 8). The requirements of sedatives (diazepam, thiamylal) and analgesic (butorphanol) prior to the second epidural injection were compared among the four groups. The dose of intravenous diazepam or thiamylal required for sedation in the patients receiving lidocaine with 1:100,000 clonidine had a tendency to be smaller as compared with those in other three groups. There was a significant difference (P less than 0.05) in the requirement of diazepam between the patients given lidocaine with 1:100,000 clonidine and those given plain lidocaine. The present results suggest that the addition of clonidine to lidocaine solution could reduce the requirements of sedatives in epidural anesthesia.
