Life-threatening hypotension after vasopressin injection during operative laparoscopy, followed by uneventful repeat laparoscopy.

Vasopressin may be associated with systemic hemodynamic changes, including severe myocardial ischemia, even in healthy patients. A 36-year-old woman underwent laparoscopy for the treatment of a uterine leiomyoma. After intravascular injection of vasopressin, she experienced life-threatening hypotension, and the procedure was subsequently aborted. After she recovered, she underwent successful laparoscopy without the use of vasopressin, and no complications occurred. As endogenous vasopressin levels sometimes rise during laparoscopy, patients may become susceptible to the drug's effects, and appropriate precautions must be taken.