Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift
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Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. · Mar 2000
[Hydroxyethyl starch accumulation in the skin with special reference to hydroxyethyl starch-associated pruritus].
Hydroxyethyl starch (HES) is a colloidal infusion fluid that has for a long time been used in emergency situations and to improve impaired blood perfusion. In the last few years there have been numerous reports about treatment resistant pruritus, often persisting for months, after HES infusion. We investigated the intracellular uptake of HES in the skin, special attention being focused on associated pruritus. ⋯ These results emphasize the need for starch derivatives that can be better metabolized and for better adapted infusion schedules to reduce the high incidence of pruritus.
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A 62-year-old woman had been found unconscious on her bed. She had to be resuscitated several times in the ambulance on the way to hospital. On admission her pupils were dilated and fixed, the cardiovascular system was unstable. Her rectal temperature was 28 degrees C. She was a diabetic being treated with metformin and glimepiride and was in incipient renal failure (serum creatinine 1.5 mg/dl). She was also in heart failure due to coronary heart disease and was in a debilitated state. ⋯ Metformin should only be prescribed if the contraindications, in particular renal failure are carefully monitored. Severe lactic acidosis should be treated early with continuous veno-venous haemodialysis with bicarbonate-buffered substituting fluids. The good neurological results in this case are probably largely due to the marked hypothermia.