[A case of AV block (Mobitz II type) during recovery from general anesthesia combined with epidural anesthesia]

A 59-year-old female underwent total hysterectomy for cancer of the corpus uteri. Epidural catheterization was performed at T 12/L 1 interspace. Anesthesia was induced with propofol (80 mg) and vecuronium (6 mg) and maintained with nitrous oxide (66%) and sevoflurane (0.8-1.5%) in oxygen. Six ml of 1.5% lidocaine containing 1: 200,000 epinephrine was injected intermittently through the epidural catheter for epidural anesthesia. Surgery was performed uneventfully. During her recovery from anesthesia, Mobitz II heart blocks and bradycardia were observed when the discharge in the oral cavity was aspirated. The AV blocks disappeared within 2 min, but similar arrhythmia was observed when the discharge in the oral cavity was aspirated again. Stimulation of the trachea by a suction drainage reversed the arrhythmia to the normal sinus rhythm. The trachea was extubated, and arrhyththmia was no longer observed in the operating room, but when the patient vomited, the next morning, bradycardia occurred and she lost consciousness. Two weeks later, there were no abnormal findings in echocardiography, Holter ECG, master-double ECG, and scintigraphy of the heart. It is likely that in this patient stimulation of the oral cavity by suction drainage and vomiting triggered vagovagal reflex, causing the AV block.