Cardiac Arrest after Connecting Negative Pressure to the Subgaleal Drain during Craniotomy Closure

A one-year-old child operated on for arachnoid cyst in right frontoparietotemporal region had sudden bradycardia followed by cardiac arrest leading to death after connecting negative pressure to the subgaleal drain during craniotomy closure. The surgical procedure was uneventful. It is a common practice to place epidural or subgaleal drains connected to a vacuum system towards the end of craniotomy to prevent accumulation of intracranial and extracranial blood. The phenomenon of bradycardia with hypotension is known to occur following negative pressure application to the epidural, epicranial, or subgaleal space after craniotomy closure. However cardiac arrest as a complication of negative pressure suction drain in neurosurgical patients is not described in the literature.