We report a case of a 69-year-old woman with femoral neck fracture undergoing bupivacaine femoral nerve block for preoperative analgesia in an ED. Seizure and cardiovascular collapse developed immediately after instillation of local anaesthetic. Resuscitation including 20% lipid emulsion was successful in achieving normalization of haemodynamic parameters and ECG QRS duration. No adverse sequelae of lipid administration were observed. We recommend the immediate availability of lipid emulsion in emergency room settings where local anaesthetics are used.
© 2011 The Authors. EMA © 2011 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.