Lidocaine Toxicity Misinterpreted as a Stroke
For more than 50 years lidocaine has been used to treat ventricular arrhythmias. Neurologic dysfunction, manifested as a stroke, occurred acutely in an 87-year-old woman after she had been administered repeated doses of lidocaine, a lidocaine infusion, then an intravenous amiodarone infusion for ven...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eScholarship Publishing, University of California
2009-11-01
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| Series: | Western Journal of Emergency Medicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://escholarship.org/uc/item/6b31j01f |
| Summary: | For more than 50 years lidocaine has been used to treat ventricular arrhythmias. Neurologic dysfunction, manifested as a stroke, occurred acutely in an 87-year-old woman after she had been administered repeated doses of lidocaine, a lidocaine infusion, then an intravenous amiodarone infusion for ventricular tachycardia. This was ultimately diagnosed as lidocaine toxicity with a serum lidocaine level of 7.9 mg/L (1.5 - 6.0 mg/L). We discuss lidocaine toxicity and risk factors leading to its development, which include particularly hepatic dysfunction, cardiac dysfunction, advanced age and other drug administration.[West J Emerg Med. 2009;10(4):292-294.] |
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| ISSN: | 1936-900X 1936-9018 |