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Postmortem detection of rocuronium and sugammadex by LC/MS in the blood of a patient who died on postoperative day 8

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Abstract

Purpose

This case report describes the purposeful forensic detection of both the muscle relaxant rocuronium and the reversal agent sugammadex in the blood of a patient who died 8 days after surgery.

Methods

The two compounds were analyzed by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS).

Results

The molar concentrations of the two compounds were almost the same, indicating that rocuronium had lost its muscle relaxant effect, because rocuronium and sugammadex formed a 1:1 complex in the blood due to their high affinities.

Conclusions

When a muscle relaxant is detected in a forensic sample, the presence of its reversal agent should also be investigated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forensic Science Laboratory, Ishikawa Prefectural Police Headquarters, 1-1 Kuratsuki, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 920-8553, Japan

    Yoshiaki Iwamuro, Takaya Murakami, Reiko Ishimaru & Satoshi Chinaka

Authors
  1. Yoshiaki Iwamuro
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  2. Takaya Murakami
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  3. Reiko Ishimaru
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  4. Satoshi Chinaka
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yoshiaki Iwamuro.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies involving living human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Iwamuro, Y., Murakami, T., Ishimaru, R. et al. Postmortem detection of rocuronium and sugammadex by LC/MS in the blood of a patient who died on postoperative day 8. Forensic Toxicol 37, 250–253 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-018-0441-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-018-0441-x

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