Postoperative blindness

This chapter discusses the cases of postoperative blindness reported in the literature and the theories that attempt to explain the mechanisms involved. Although uncommon, alterations in vision and blindness after anesthesia for major surgical procedures, particularly cardiopulmonary bypass or spine surgery, are well documented, with an incidence varying between 0.05% and 1%. Accurate incidence data are unavailable because it is not known what percentages are reported. However, the large number of case reports over many years has provided some significant information. Although sustained compression of the eye is an important cause, postoperative visual loss may also occur, in an unrelated manner, because of ischemic optic neuropathy, central retinal artery or vein occlusion, or cortical blindness.