Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Programmed Electrical Stimulation in Mice
Published on: May 26, 2010
Unrecognized drug-drug interactions: a cause of intraoperative cardiac arrest?
Catherine Marcucci1, Neil B Sandson, Eric M Thorn
1Department of Anesthesiology, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA. sandson.marcucci@comcast.net
Abstract:
Many physicians overlook, or are unaware of, most drug-drug interactions. In our patient, the local anesthetic used for an axillary block may have been the precipitating drug in a cascade of drug-drug interactions that resulted in a cardiac arrest. The combination of multiple preoperative drug-drug interactions prevented the return of a stable native cardiac rhythm for almost 24 h. The mechanisms of interactions of these frequently used drugs are described, and the reader is guided to sources that identify and simplify the understanding of potentially dangerous drug-drug interactions.
Related Concept Videos
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation IV: Pharmacological Management
Drug toxicity: Drug–Drug Interaction
Parenteral Anesthetics: Overview
Pharmacokinetics: Drug–Drug Interactions
Nondepolarizing (Competitive) Neuromuscular Blockers: Pharmacological Actions
Although all competitive neuromuscular blockers are designed...
Heart Failure Drugs: Inotropic Agents