A Case of Septic Shock Caused by Escherichia coli after Intravenous Injection of Contaminated Propofol

Young Doo Kim; Hyo Keun Lee; Yoon Jung Jwa; Sang Kyung Jung; Tae Hyun Um; Chong Rae Cho; Yee Gyung Kwak

doi:10.3947/ic.2010.42.5.296

Journal List > Infect Chemother > v.42(5) > 1035029

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Kim, Lee, Jwa, Jung, Um, Cho, and Kwak: A Case of Septic Shock Caused by Escherichia coli after Intravenous Injection of Contaminated Propofol

Case Report

Infection & Chemotherapy

Infection & Chemotherapy 2010; 42(5): 296-298.

Published online: 31 October 2010

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3947/ic.2010.42.5.296

A Case of Septic Shock Caused by Escherichia coli after Intravenous Injection of Contaminated Propofol

Young Doo Kim¹, Hyo Keun Lee¹, Yoon Jung Jwa¹, Sang Kyung Jung¹, Tae Hyun Um², Chong Rae Cho², Yee Gyung Kwak¹

¹Department of Internal Medicine, Inje University College of Medicine, Gyeonggi-do, Korea.

²Department of Laboratory Medicine, Inje University College of Medicine, Gyeonggi-do, Korea.

Correspondence to Yee Gyung Kwak, M.D. Department of Internal Medicine, Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital, 2240 Daehwa-dong, Ilsanseo-gu, Goyang 411-706, Korea. Tel: +82-31-910-7926, Fax: +82-31-910-7219, ygkwak@paik.ac.kr

Received 9 April 2010 Revised 26 May 2010 Accepted 27 May 2010

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol) is a rapid and short-acting anesthetic agent that is used for general anesthesia and endoscopic sedation. It is available as an aqueous lipid emulsion and this preparation could serve as a bacterial culture medium. We report a case of a 46-year-old female who developed septic shock caused by Escherichia coli after being sedated by propofol to undergo gastrointestinal endoscopy. The contaminated propofol was identified as the cause of septic shock by pulsed-gel electrophoresis.

Keywords: Propofol, Escherichia coli, Septic shock

Figures and Tables

Figure 1

Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns of Escherichia coli isolates. Lane M, molecular weight standard; lane 1, propofol culture isolate, lane 2 blood culture isolate.

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