Morbidity, mortality and local anaesthesia

Two cases of local anaesthetic overdose and death are described. The patients, a four-year-old child and a 68-year old female, received local anaesthetic doses greatly in excess of those recommended. Their overdose reactions are described as well as subsequent management. The paper reviews the causes of local anaesthetic overdose, its signs and symptoms, and the recommended management of these reactions. Specific discussion as to the cause of death of these two patients and of the means to prevent such occurrences in the future concludes the paper.