Pre-treatment with somatostatin in the anaesthetic management of a patient with carcinoid syndrome

Abstract

Carcinoid syndrome produces flushing, bronchoconstriction and gastrointestinal hypermotility secondary to serotonin, histamine, bradykinin and prostaglandin release. A variety of drugs, foods and anaesthetic agents may provoke this syndrome. Under anaesthesia, the flushing produced may be associated with acute hypotension and cardiovascular collapse; this phenomenon is called a carcinoid crisis. Recently, somatostatin analogue has been used successfully to treat intraoperative carcinoid crisis. In this report, we present a 66-year-old lady with carcinoid syndrome who was pre-treated with 50 μg somatostatin analogue IV and IM prior to surgical manipulation. The anaesthetic course was relatively uneventful and the patient did well postoperatively. © 1988 Canadian Anesthesiologists.