Miss-'n-mix and mimics. Drug errors in anesthesia and resuscitation. A smelly business.

The chief surgeon noticed a 1 cm well-defined circular growth at the base of his neck and asked a colleague to remove it under local anesthesia. Right from the start of the local anesthetic injection the patient experienced excruciating pain, interrupting the infiltration. About one milliliter had been injected subcutaneously. It was found that 3.4% glutaraldehyde had been injected instead of procaine. The region soon became necrotic and a torpid lesion extended sideways and deep in the tissues. By chance the process did not reach the trachea nor any major blood vessel. Later, plastic surgery was needed to prevent retraction.