Sudden Cardiac Arrest Following Cervical Facet Joint Injection: A case report.
10.4097/kjae.2005.48.1.99
- Author:
Young Sun SEO
1
;
Jong Hyuk KIM
;
Choon Hak LIM
;
Hae Ja LIM
;
Hye Won LEE
;
Suk Min YOON
;
Seong Ho CHANG
;
In Jung CHAE
Author Information
1. Departments of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea. torchid@korea.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Case Report
- Keywords:
complications;
facet joint block;
lidocaine;
spinal anesthesia
- MeSH:
Anesthesia, Spinal;
Anesthetics, Local;
Apnea;
Back Pain;
Death, Sudden, Cardiac*;
Diagnosis;
Female;
Heart Arrest;
Humans;
Lidocaine;
Middle Aged;
Unconsciousness;
Zygapophyseal Joint*
- From:Korean Journal of Anesthesiology
2005;48(1):99-103
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
The common disorder called facet syndrome exhibits back pain, with or without referred or radiating pain due to facet joint arthropathy. Facet joint injection using local anesthetics is a reliable method for the diagnosis and treatment for facet syndrome. Because the complications secondary to facet block have usually been temporary and infrequent, facet block has been known as a simple and safe procedure. But spinal anesthesia is a serious complication of facet block and can lead to a life threatening conditions. The authors report a patient who developed un-explainable cardiac arrest following facet joint injection. A 64 year-old woman with 4-year history of cervical facet syndrome was admitted for the fourth facet block. Cardiac arrest followed with unconsciousness and apnea occurred 4 minutes after cervical facet joint injection with 2 ml of 2% lidocaine. The patient was immediately resuscitated and recovered without any sequelae. Sudden cardiac arrest can be unexpectedly developed during facet block, and we recommend close monitoring during cervical facet joint block.
