Acute arterial spasm in an extremity caused by inadvertent intra-arterial injection successfully treated in the Emergency Department

We present a case of limb ischemia in a young man. For acute alcohol withdrawal, this patient was given chlordiazepoxide (Librium) through an angiocatheter inadvertently placed into a brachial arterial line. This caused severe spasm of the brachial artery and its branches. These findings were con- firmed by angiography. Successful treatment occurred with intra-arterial papaverin.