LIFE-THREATENING HYPOTENSION AFTER VASOPRESSIN INJECTION DURING OPERATIVE LAPAROSCOPY, FOLLOWED BY UNEVENTFUL REPEAT LAPAROSCOPY

Vasopressin may be associated with systemic hemodynamic changes, inclu ding severe myocardial ischemia, even in healthy patients. A 36-year-o ld woman underwent laparoscopy for the treatment of a uterine leiomyom a. After intravascular injection of vasopressin, she experienced life- threatening hypotension, and the procedure was subsequently aborted. A fter she recovered, she underwent successful laparoscopy without the u se of vasopressin, and no complications occurred. As endogenous vasopr essin levels sometimes rise during laparoscopy, patients may become su sceptible to the drug's effects, and appropriate precautions must be t aken.