Intravenous phentolamine infusion alleviates the pain of abdominal visceral cancer, including pancreatic carcinoma.

This case report series describes eight patients (four patients with pancreatic carcinoma, one patient with hepatocellular carcinoma, one patient with gastric and rectal carcinoma, one with sigmoid colon cancer, and one with rectal cancer), whose abdominal cancer pain was treated with intravenous phentolamine infusion at 80 mg x day(-1) for 2 days. All but one of the patients had already been treated with opioids. All eight patients complained of severe abdominal pain; in five patients the pain radiated to the back, and there was associated anal pain in two patients.

[Protection against mismatched transfusion during operation double check system].

Background: Three mistakes in recording blood types in the operation sheets occurred at the operating room of Iwamizawa Municipal General Hospital in 3 months (June-August, 2004).

Methods: From these accidents, anesthesiologists and the staff improved the blood typing checking system to prevent mismatched transfusion during operation as follows; 1. The blood typing must be done at our out-patient's department, while the blood group compatibility test must be done at our inpatient's department.