Respiratory arrest after local anesthesia for outpatient cataract surgery: a dramatic but transient complication.
Retrobulbar injection of anesthetic agents is common practice before ophthalmologic procedures. Rare but life-threatening complications of this procedure include respiratory depression and coma. We present the case of a woman with complete respiratory arrest and unresponsiveness who was brought into our emergency department from a local freestanding surgical center after preoperative retrobulbar anesthetic injection. Subsequently, the pathogenesis, clinical features, and supportive treatment for this dramatic but transient complication are discussed.
Mayer
A S
AS
Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical Center of Delaware, Wilmington.
O'Connor
R E
RE
D000368:Aged; D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures; D000772:Anesthesia, Local / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002045:Bupivacaine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006821:Hyaluronoglucosaminidase / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012131:Respiratory Insufficiency / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000503:physiopathology
D006821:Hyaluronoglucosaminidase; D002045:Bupivacaine