Anesthetic management of a teenage athlete who developed arrhythmia during general anesthesia
Ohshita, N.; Takaishi, K.; Eguchi, S.; Cho, G.; Tomioka, S.; Nakajo, N.
Masui. Japanese Journal of Anesthesiology 54(6): 676-679
2005
ISSN/ISBN: 0021-4892 PMID: 15966390 Document Number: 592009
A 17-year-old man with fracture of the mandible underwent open fixation under general anesthesia. He was an athlete of the rugby suffering the fracture in a match. His preoperative physical examinations were normal except for I degrees atrioventricular block on electrocardiogram (ECG). During anesthesia, atrioventricular dissociation and frequent premature ventricular contractions were induced by the stimulation of nasotracheal intubation and the administration of atropine for the reversal of muscle relaxation. We thought the cause of the arrhythmia is the athlete's heart which may be vagotonic and may induce vagal reflex or fatal arrhythmia. This case demonstrates that it is necessary to pay attention to chronotropic action associated with the intubation of nasopharynx, the handling of laryngoscope and the usage of drugs for the anesthetic management of the athlete.