OBJECTIVES: Description of four cases of anaphylactic shock with blue dye injection (bleu patenté V Guerbet 2.5%) during sentinel node biopsy for breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Women with breast carcinoma and combined approach with radioactive tracer and blue patent injection. RESULTS: Four cases were observed, which means an incidence of 0.57%. We report one case of grade II anaphylactic reaction and three cases of grade III requiring active reanimation and adrenaline perfusion. One patient developed a pulmonary embolism during the postoperative period, but no death was observed. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: We find an incidence of 1.06% of allergy but only 0.25% of anaphylactic shock (grade III). These rare but serious cases must weigh up the benefits and risks of using blue dye. We suggest using blue dye injection only in case of radioisotope detection failure. Of course, this approach must be evaluated. (c) 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
OBJECTIVES: Description of four cases of anaphylactic shock with blue dye injection (bleu patenté V Guerbet 2.5%) during sentinel node biopsy for breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Women with breast carcinoma and combined approach with radioactive tracer and blue patent injection. RESULTS: Four cases were observed, which means an incidence of 0.57%. We report one case of grade II anaphylactic reaction and three cases of grade III requiring active reanimation and adrenaline perfusion. One patient developed a pulmonary embolism during the postoperative period, but no death was observed. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: We find an incidence of 1.06% of allergy but only 0.25% of anaphylactic shock (grade III). These rare but serious cases must weigh up the benefits and risks of using blue dye. We suggest using blue dye injection only in case of radioisotope detection failure. Of course, this approach must be evaluated. (c) 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.