S Afr Med J 1978 Oct 14;5416:665-6.

Commercial heparin solution investigated in vitro after reported impaired nerve function in a patient.

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Exposure to commercial heparin solution caused rapid conduction failure in frog sciatic nerve preparations. The toxic substance was not the heparin itself, but the 0,5% phenol preservative. Phenol solutions with concentrations between 0,1% and 5% caused a dose-dependent nerve failure, which manifested as a progressive decline in compound action potential amplitude. Care must be taken in the administration of any solution preserved with phenol, to prevent nerve damage.

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