Acute cardiovascular collapse after administration of suxamethonium

The case is reported of an acute cardiovascular collapse immediately after the administration of suxamethonium to a 25-year-old woman undergoing a diagnostic laparoscopy under general anesthesia. Reintervention 14 days later--without the use of suxamethonium--was uneventful. A skin prik test with suxamethonium proved highly positive. A survey of the literature is given and an attempt is made to distinguish between true anaphylaxis and anaphylactoid reaction.