Vascular Hypotension and Bradycardia Following Intraocular Injection of Acetylcholine During Cataract Surgery

Third degree of atrioventricular block: A rare geriatric complication that may cause sudden death

“…Abundant clinical evidence has also highlighted a frequent onset of heartbeat irregularities after eye surgery, for example following strabismus surgery (Gold et al, 1988), cataract surgery (Hampl et al, 1993;Lumme and Laatikainen, 1994) or glaucoma (Merli et al, 1986). Several causes have been suggested: from the activation of the oculo-cardiac reflex with vagal hypertone and depression of cardiac activity with consequent bradycardia or complete asystolia, to the effect of anesthesia, both topical and general (Brinkley and Henrick, 1984;Scha ¨ffer et al, 1989;Quantock and Goswami, 2007).…”