Anesthesia in a patient with undiagnosed salicylate poisoning presenting as intraabdominal sepsis.

An 81-year-old woman with unintentional salicylate intoxication presented with features of sepsis, abdominal pain, and tenderness. Laparotomy was performed to rule out acute cholecystitis. Anesthesia was complicated by severe hypercarbia despite hyperventilation, and progressive cardiovascular and neurologic deterioration postoperatively. The adverse neurologic, respiratory, and hepatic effects of abdominal surgery and general anesthesia probably potentiated salicylate toxicity and increased patient morbidity. Anesthesiologists should be aware of the protean manifestations of salicylate poisoning and consider it as a cause of "medical abdomen."