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From the *Department for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena, Germany;
Department of Anesthesiology, Medical Faculty of the University of Heidelberg, Germany; and
Department for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Klinikum Quedlinburg, Academic Teaching Hospital of the University Hospital of Magdeburg, Quedlinburg, Germany.
Address correspondence to Wolfram Schummer, MD, DEAA, EDIC, Department for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, SRH Zentralklinikum Suhl, Albert-Schweitzer str. 2, 98527 Suhl, Germany. Address e-mail to cwsm.schummer{at}gmx.de.
BACKGROUND: Severe anaphylaxis can be associated with cardiovascular collapse that is difficult to manage and does not respond to treatment with epinephrine. Because anaphylaxis is uncommon, unpredictable and may be fatal, a prospective, randomized, controlled trial in humans on the best management is difficult and guidelines are based on theory and anecdotes only.
METHODS AND RESULTS: We report six cases in which the use of vasopressin was successful in the treatment of anaphylactic shock.
CONCLUSIONS: Standard treatment of anaphylactic shock, including discontinuation of the causative agent, administration of epinephrine, and infusion of IV fluids, did not stabilize cardiocirculatory function, and adding arginine vasopressors resulted in prompt hemodynamic stabilization.
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M. W. Dunser, C. Torgersen, and V. Wenzel Treatment of Anaphylactic Shock: Where Is the Evidence? Anesth. Analg., August 1, 2008; 107(2): 359 - 361. [Full Text] [PDF] |
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