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BJA Advance Access published online on June 11, 2004
British Journal of Anaesthesia, doi:10.1093/bja/aeh199
© 2004 by The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia
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Accepted April 25, 2004

Case Report

Apparent hyperkalaemia from blood sampled from an arterial cannula

V. Mehta 1* Z. Ahmed 1

1 Boyle Department of Anaesthesia, St Bartholomew Hospital, West Smithfield, London EC1A 7BE, UK

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: vmehta1971{at}hotmail.com.


  Abstract

Blood samples were obtained from a radial artery cannula in a 60-yr-old man during coronary artery surgery. Serum potassium concentrations of 9.3, 8.4, and 7.4 mmol litre-1 were obtained. A simultaneous venous blood sample gave a serum potassium concentration of 4.4 mmol litre-1. The ECG was unchanged. After the arterial cannula was repositioned, subsequent blood samples gave expected ranges of serum potassium concentration. We suggest that the initial arterial cannula position caused a high shear rate in the blood when samples were withdrawn, causing haemolysis and hyperkalaemia.

Keywords: Keywords: arteries, cannulation; complications, catheter misplacement; complications, hyperkalaemia; ions, potassium


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