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עמוד בית
Tue, 10.12.24

Reviews

IMAJ | volume 16

Journal 4, April 2014
pages: 250-254

Methemoglobinemia Induced by Lidocaine-Prilocaine Cream

    Summary

     With growing awareness of the importance of pain control in all procedures, the use of lidocaine-prilocaine cream (EMLA) for all ages is increasing. Lidocaine-prilocaine cream has been implicated as a cause of methemoglobinemia. Diagnostic clues may be oxygen-resistant cyanosis and an oxygen ‘‘saturation gap’’ between arterial blood saturation and pulse oximetry. Treatment with intravenous methylene blue is often effective. Since EMLA is often mistakenly considered risk-free it is routinely applied by medical staff in the emergency room. Subsequent to the case of EMLA-induced methemoglobinemia in an 8 year old girl we wish to alert the medical community to this phenomenon, and in this work review the relevant literature.

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