Hepatotoxicity due to red bush tea consumption: a case report.

Many conventional drugs used today, including isoniazid, dapsone, and acetaminophen, are well recognized culprits of hepatotoxicity. With increasing use of complementary and alternative medical therapies, several herbal medicines, such as Ma-Huang, kava, and chaparral leaf, have been implicated as hepatotoxins. Hepatotoxicity may be the most frequent adverse reaction to these herbal remedies when taken in excessive quantities. A myriad of liver dysfunctions may occur including transient liver enzyme abnormalities due to acute and chronic hepatitis. These herbal products are often overlooked as the causal etiologic agent during the evaluation of a patient with elevated liver function tests. We describe a case of hepatotoxicity due to ingestion of red bush tea diagnosed during preoperative assessment of a patient scheduled for laparoscopic appendectomy. Elevated liver enzymes and thrombocytopenia detected in the patient's laboratory work up confounded the initial diagnosis of acute appendicitis and additional investigations were required to rule out cholecystitis and other causes of hepatitis. Open appendectomy was done uneventfully under spinal anesthesia without any further deterioration of hepatic function.

Comparison of preoperative oral acetazolamide and intraperitoneal normal saline irrigation for reduction of postoperative pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

PURPOSE: Visceral and shoulder tip pain following laparoscopic cholecystectomy is mainly due to carbon dioxide (CO2) insufflation. Various methods have been adopted to eliminate residual CO2. We compared the postoperative analgesic efficacy of intraperitoneal normal saline (30 mL/kg) irrigation with preoperative oral acetazolamide administration in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty patients between 20 and 60 years of age were included in this prospective, randomized, double-blind study. Patients in Group I received placebo, Group II patients received preoperative oral acetazolamide (5 mg/kg), and Group III patients received intraperitoneal irrigation with 30 mL/kg of normal saline. Intravenous paracetamol (1 g) was administered every 6 hours for postoperative analgesia. Parietal and visceral pain scores at rest, on movement, and on coughing and shoulder tip pain were recorded using a visual analog scale after arrival in the postanesthesia care unit, at 1, 2, 4, 6, 12, and 24 hours after surgery. Rescue analgesia was provided with an intravenous fentanyl (1 µg/kg) bolus whenever the visual analog scale score was ≥4. RESULTS: Compared with Group I, Group III patients had significantly lower visceral pain scores at all time intervals except at 12 hours. Group III patients also recorded significantly lower visceral pain scores than Group II from 2 to 24 hours. There was no significant difference in shoulder tip pain. The total dose of fentanyl used was significantly less in Group III. CONCLUSIONS: Intraperitoneal normal saline irrigation is more effective than acetazolamide in reducing postoperative visceral pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy and has significant opioid-sparing effect. However, its effect on shoulder pain is comparable to that of acetazolamide.

Sudden near-fatal tracheal aspiration of an undiagnosed nasal foreign body in a small child.

Foreign body aspiration is a commonly encountered emergency in children. Foreign body can lodge in any site from supra-glottis to the terminal bronchioles. Symptoms might range from none to respiratory compromise, cardiac arrest and even death depending on location and size. We report successful management of a child who aspirated a nasal foreign body during physical examination in an outpatient department causing complete airway obstruction with special mention about different management options available for managing near total respiratory arrest from an aspirated foreign body in the ED.

Case report and mini literature review: anesthetic management for severe peripartum cardiomyopathy complicated with preeclampsia using sufetanil in combined spinal epidural anesthesia.

Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a rare entity, and anesthetic management for cesarean section of a patient with this condition can be challenging. We hereby present the anesthetic management of a patient with PPCM complicated with preeclampsia scheduled for cesarean section, along with a mini review of literature. A 24 year-old primigravida with twin gestation was admitted to our hospital with severe PPCM and preeclampsia for peripartum care, which finally required a cesarean section. Preoperative optimization was done according to the goal of managing left ventricular failure. Combined spinal epidural (CSE) anaesthesia with bupivacaine and sufentanil was used for cesarean section under optimal monitoring. The surgery was completed without event or complication. Postoperative pain relief was adequate and patient required only one epidural top up with sufentanil 6 hours after operation. To the best of our knowledge there is no report in literature of the use of sufentanil as a neuraxial opioid in the anesthetic management of cesarean section in a patient with PPCM. CSE with sufentanil may be a safer and more effective alternative in such cases.

Oral contrast for abdominal computed tomography in children: the effects on gastric fluid volume.

BACKGROUND: Oral enteric contrast medium (ECM) is frequently administered to achieve visualization of the gastrointestinal tract during abdominal evaluation with computed tomography (CT). Administering oral ECM less than 2 hours before sedation/anesthesia violates the nothing-by-mouth guidelines and in theory may increase the risk of aspiration pneumonia. In this study we measured the residual gastric fluid when using a protocol in which ECM is administered up to 1 hour before anesthesia/sedation. We hypothesized that patients receiving ECM 1 hour before anesthesia/sedation would have residual gastric fluid volume (GFV) >0.4 mL/kg. METHODS: Anesthesia and radiology reports, CT images, and department incident reports were reviewed between January 2005 and June 2009 for all patients who required sedation/anesthesia for abdominal CT. For each patient, the volume of contrast or stomach fluid was calculated using a region of interest outlining the stomach portion containing high-attenuation fluid and low-attenuation of other gastric contents. Information obtained from anesthesia/sedation reports included demographic characteristics, presenting pathology, drugs used for anesthesia/sedation induction and maintenance, airway interventions, method for securing endotracheal tube, and complications related to ECM administration, including oxygen desaturation, vomiting, coughing, bronchospasm, laryngospasm, and aspiration. RESULTS: We identified 365 patients (mean age = 32 months; range = 0.66 to 211.10 months) who received oral/IV contrast material before anesthesia/sedation for abdominal CT and 47 patients (mean age = 52 months; range = 0.63 to 215.84 months) who received only IV contrast material and followed the traditional fast. For those who received oral contrast, the mean contrast volume administered was 18.10 mL/kg (range = 1.5 to 82.76 mL/kg). The median GVF 1 hour after completing the oral contrast was significantly higher than that in patients who received only IV contrast (0.38 mL/kg vs. 0.15 mL/kg, P = 0.0049). GFV exceeded 0.4 mL/kg in 189 patients (178 of 365 [49%] in the oral contrast group vs. 11 of 47 [23%] in the IV contrast group) (χ(2) = 10.7874, P = 0.0010). Among those who received oral contrast, 207 patients had general anesthesia and 158 patients had deep sedation. Two cases of vomiting were reported in the general anesthesia group with no evidence of pulmonary aspiration identified. CONCLUSION: For children receiving an abdominal CT, the residual GFV exceeded 0.4 mL/kg in 49% (178/365) of those who received oral ECM up to 1 hour before anesthesia/sedation in comparison with 23% (11/47) of those who received IV-only contrast.

Psycho-mimetic manifestations following propofol in day care surgery--case reports.

OBJECTIVES: Propofol has virtually replaced other agents for induction of anesthesia in the ambulatory setting because of its favorable recovery profile. Psycho-mimetic effects, common after use of ketamine, are not so well known for propofol. We present two case reports where patients had two spectrum of abnormal psychological outbreaks after propofol anesthesia. CASE REPORTS: Two healthy young patients were scheduled for short day care procedures under general anesthesia. In both cases anesthesia was induced with propofol plus fentanyl and maintained with inhalational anesthetic agents. After uneventful completion of surgery, both patients were transferred to recovery room where they manifested unusual psycho-mimetic reactions. The first patient had emotional outburst in the form of crying and the other had violent reaction requiring haloperidol for control. CONCLUSION: Psycho-mimetic reactions can occur after anesthesia using propofol in the short duration day care procedures, in patients with or without preexisting psychiatric problems, needing antipsychotic medications for control.

Superior vena cava syndrome: still a medical dilemma--a case report.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this report is to highlight the dilemma and the associated clinical implications in treating a patient with superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS) with a coexisting coagulophathy. CLINICAL FEATURES: This case report describes a post-bone marrow transplant patient who was admitted to our ICU because of bronchiectasis complicated with nosocomial pneumonia. Following the recovery from pneumonia and long ventilatory support, he developed superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS) due to mediastinal lymphadenopathy. The diagnosis was delayed due to associated confounding clinical factors. Due to the rapid deterioration in patient's condition, the immediate tissue diagnosis of mediastinal lymph nodes and re-canalization of superior vena cava by stenting was not done though it was, our priority. He had many other medical problems as well such as thrombocytopenia, deranged coagulation profile, old cerebral infarction with hemiplegia, seizure disorder and cardiac arrhythmias that complicated the treatment plan. Ultrasonography (USG) guided biopsy followed by stenting of the SVC was done after discussing the risks and benefits with patient's relatives. But, he had bleeding from biopsy site due to deranged coagulation profile. He was not given any anticoagulants. Within 24 hours, the stent was blocked by clot that was diagnosed by the deteriorating clinical features and a repeat CT scan. Then he was given Enoxaparin in therapeutic dose and the clot cleared within a day, possibly partly due to Enoxaparin and partly coagulopathy. CONCLUSION: Meticulous care should be practiced in deciding the appropriate treatment of SVCS especially when it is associated with other complicating medical problems particularly coagulopathy.