Severe Intraoperative Bradycardia during Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy due to Rapid Peritoneal Insufflation

Laparoscopy is becoming increasingly popular in gynecological and general surgical operations. There are complications that are inherent to the laparoscopy techniques; amongst them is intraoperative vagal-mediated bradycardia that results from peritoneal stretching. This can occur due to high flow rate of gas during peritoneal insufflation, a practice still happening nowadays. We report a case of a middle-aged hypertensive patient who was undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The patient was assessed more than once preoperatively by the anesthesia team for blood pressure optimization. The patient underwent general anesthesia and developed severe bradycardia immediately after peritoneal insufflation. The management started immediately by stopping the insufflation and deflating the abdomen. Afterwards, atropine was administered intravenously, and CPR was started preemptively according to the ACLS protocol to prevent the patient from progressing into cardiac arrest. She responded to the management and became vitally stable within one minute. After confirming that there was no cardiac or metabolic insult through rapid blood investigations and agreeing that the cause of bradycardia was the rapid insufflation, the surgical team proceeded with the surgery in the same setting using low flow rate of CO₂ to achieve pneumoperitoneum. There were no complications in the second time and the operation was completed smoothly. The patient was extubated and shifted to the postanesthesia care unit to monitor her condition. The patient was stable and conscious and later shifted to the wards and discharged on routine follow-up after confirming that there were no complications in the postoperative follow-up. Therefore, it is important to monitor the flow rate of CO₂ during peritoneal insufflation in laparoscopic surgery as rapid peritoneal stretch can cause severe bradycardia that might progress into cardiac arrest, especially in hypertensive patients. It is also important for the anesthetist to be vigilant and ready to manage such cases.