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CASE REPORT
Epirubicin extravasation: consequences of delayed management
  1. Olivia Hale,
  2. Peter George Deutsch,
  3. Anindya Lahiri
  1. Department of Plastic Reconstructive and Hand Surgery, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, West Bromwich, UK
  1. Correspondence to Peter George Deutsch, peter.deutsch{at}nhs.net

Summary

Epirubicin is an anthracycline chemotherapy agent used for treatment of several cancers including oesophageal, breast and gastric. Extravasation is a well-recognised and serious complication of any intravenous therapies but especially chemotherapeutic agents. Signs of the injury can be subtle and without prompt recognition and treatment there can be extensive tissue damage and depending on location of injury this can result in significant functional loss. In this article, a case of delayed management of epirubicin extravasation from a cannula situated at the dorsum of the hand is discussed. Successful surgical reconstruction of the resulting substantial tissue damage using a radial forearm flap 21 days following injury is described.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2016-218012

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors All authors have contributed substantially to the preparation of the manuscript. All authors have reviewed the current manuscript and are happy for submission. The report has been written jointly by OH and PGD (background, treatment and discussion by OH, and case presentation and editing/review by PGD). Planning of the paper and patient consent were performed by PGD. The paper was conceptualised, edited and reviewed by the senior author AL who also managed the patient and collected the images.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent Obtained.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.