title: Acute dystonia in labour: side-effect of concealed self-medication attributed to epidural analgesia.
abstract: Any convulsion during labour requires immediate action, but before this can occur a correct diagnosis must be made. Here we describe a case where a 'fit' was wrongly attributed to epidural analgesia. This was in fact a dystonic reaction secondary to undeclared self-medication with metoclopramide. It is therefore important to ensure that a full drug history is obtained from all patients to exclude a drug interaction or side-effect when faced with unusual and potentially serious complications of drug therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia, Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow Road, Middlesex HA1 3UJ, UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jankowski
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Arrigoni