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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Asian J Neurosurg 2012; 7(02): 87-89
DOI: 10.4103/1793-5482.98654
CASE REPORT

Asystole during posterior fossa surgery: Report of two cases

Authors

  • Keshav Goyal

    Department of Neuroanaesthesiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi

  • Frenny Philip

    Department of Neuroanaesthesiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi

  • Girija Rath

    Department of Neuroanaesthesiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi

  • Charu Mahajan

    Department of Neuroanaesthesiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi

  • M Sujatha

    Department of Neuroanaesthesiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi

  • Sachidanand Bharti

    Department of Neuroanaesthesiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi

  • Nidhi Gupta

    Department of Neuroanaesthesiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
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Asystole during posterior fossa neurosurgical procedures is not uncommon. Various causes have been implicated, especially when surgical manipulation is carried out in the vicinity of the brain stem. The trigemino-cardiac reflex has been attributed as one of the causes. Here, we report two cases who suffered asystole during the resection of posterior fossa tumors. The vago-glossopharyngeal reflex and the direct stimulation of the brainstem were hypothesized as the causes of asytole. These episodes resolved spontaneously following withdrawal of the surgical stimulus emphasizing the importance of anticipation and vigilance during critical moments of tumor dissection during posterior fossa surgery.

Key-words:

Asystole - brainstem manipulation - posterior fossa surgery - trigemino-cardiac reflex - vago-glossopharyngeal reflex


Publication History

Article published online:
27 September 2022

© 2012. Asian Congress of Neurological Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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