Abstract
Peribulbar anaesthesia is a form of regional anaesthesia which has been used with increasing popularity in cataract surgery. Recently indications for its use have been extended to include surgery for vitreo-retinal disease and strabismus. This study shows that in nine of 11 patients in whom the oculocardiac reflex was stimulated by traction on an extra-ocular muscle, peribulbar anaesthesia failed to abolish the reflex. In each of these patients, the reflex manifested as a bradycardia. In one subject, the bradycardia was profound, showing no QRS complex for five seconds. We recommend that cardiac rhythm be monitored throughout procedures performed under peribulbar anaesthesia, and that a vagolytic agent be available for immediate use.
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Batterbury, M., Wong, D., Williams, R. et al. Peribulbar anaesthesia: Failure to abolish the oculocardiac reflex. Eye 6, 293–295 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.1992.57
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.1992.57
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