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. 2007 Mar;2(1):5-11.
doi: 10.1007/s11552-006-9012-4.

Finger injection with high-dose (1:1,000) epinephrine: Does it cause finger necrosis and should it be treated?

Colleen Fitzcharles-Bowe  1 , Keith Denkler, Don Lalonde
Affiliations

Finger injection with high-dose (1:1,000) epinephrine: Does it cause finger necrosis and should it be treated?

Colleen Fitzcharles-Bowe et al. Hand (N Y). 2007 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: Accidental finger injections with high-dose (1:1,000) epinephrine is a new and increasing phenomenon. The purpose of this study is to document the incidence of finger necrosis and the treatment for this type of injury. The necessity or type of treatment required for this type of injury has not been established.

Methods: The literature was reviewed from 1900 to 2005 by hand and by Internet to document all cases of high-dose (1:1,000) finger epinephrine injection. In addition, the authors added five additional cases.

Results: There are a total of 59 reported cases of finger injections with high-dose epinephrine, of which, 32 cases were untreated. There were no instances of necrosis or skin loss, but neuropraxia lasting as long as 10 weeks and reperfusion pain were carefully documented. Treatment was not uniform for those who received it, but phentolamine was the most commonly used agent.

Conclusions: There is not one case of finger necrosis in all of the 59 reported cases of finger injections with 1:1,000 epinephrine in the world literature. The necessity or type of treatment of high-dose epinephrine injection injuries remains conjecture, but phentolamine is the most commonly used agent in the reported cases, and the rationale and evidence for its use are discussed.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Thirty minutes after 0.5 cm3 of 1:1,000 epinephrine injected into the long finger fat at the black dot, 0.5 cm3 of 1:10,000 epinephrine into the ring finger (blue dot), and 0.5 cm3 of 1:100,000 epinephrine injected into the small finger of the left hand (red dot). Note that the distal phalanx of the small finger is not pale, and that the long and ring fingers are completely white.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Twenty minutes after injection of 1 cm3 of pure 1:1,000 epinephrine into the little finger.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Same finger 6 h later.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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