[Asystole after combination anesthesia].
A 55-year-old man with liver cancer underwent partial hepatectomy under combined lumbar epidural and general anesthesia. Asystole during postoperative recovery was followed by ventricular fibrillation. After unsuccessful cardiopulmonary resuscitation efforts, brain death was diagnosed. In the absence of anemia, acidosis, electrolytic alterations or hypothermia, and after ruling out hemoperitoneum, acute myocardial infarction and stroke, we conclude that the clinical picture described was the result of autonomic imbalance due to spreading of the sympathetic block.
Anesthesia, Epidural↗