Asystole following spinal anaesthesia: the hazards of intrinsic cardiac reflexes.

ABSTRACT

Unwanted initiation of intrinsic cardiac reflexes can precipitate bradycardia and cardiac arrest after spinal anaesthesia. We report the case of a 40-year-old man who suffered sudden asystolic cardiac arrest following spinal anaesthesia prior to planned abdominal surgery, likely due to the initiation of one or more intrinsic cardiac reflexes including the Bezold-Jarisch reflex, the reverse Bainbridge reflex and the pacemaker stretch reflex. The characteristics of this patient placed him at increased risk of this underappreciated cause of bradycardia and hypotension. We present a summary of the physiology and clinical features relevant to this case and the considerations for avoidance of similar complications after spinal anaesthesia.