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Severe labetalol overdose in an 8‐month‐old infant
Author(s) -
THORSTEINSSON ADALBJÖRN,
JOHANNESDOTTIR ASTRIDUR,
EIRÍKSSON HERBERT,
HELGASON HRÓðMAR
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
pediatric anesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.704
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1460-9592
pISSN - 1155-5645
DOI - 10.1111/j.1460-9592.2008.02501.x
Subject(s) - labetalol , medicine , anesthesia , coarctation of the aorta , pharmacokinetics , aorta , surgery , blood pressure
Summary We report a case of a large labetalol overdose in an eight‐month‐old infant that was being treated for hypertension following surgery for coarctation of the aorta. Labetalol, both alpha and beta adrenergic blocking agent was used for treating postoperative hypertension. By mistake, the patient was given an extremely high dose of labetalol intravenously (17.2 mg·kg −1 ). Remarkably, the medication error had a surprisingly limited clinical effect on the infant who survived the incident. We discuss the pharmacokinetic, pharmocodynamic and possible explanations for this fortunate turn of events.