• A Kelleher and A Mackersie.
• Hospital for Sick Children, London.
• Anaesthesia. 1995 Apr 1; 50 (4): 348-50.

AbstractWe describe the case of a 6-month-old achondroplastic baby who underwent foramen magnum decompression to relieve congenital cervical cord compression. During the procedure, acute hypotension occurred secondary to cord compression, and following attempts to alleviate this, torrential haemorrhage ensued and air was entrained into the circulation through large venous channels in the surgical field. This resulted in an asystolic cardiac arrest from which the baby was resuscitated whilst remaining in the prone position. Haemorrhage remained difficult to control and a second episode of air embolism occurred 5 min later leading to a profound bradycardia and hypotension again requiring full cardiorespiratory resuscitation in the prone position. In total, 11 min elapsed before an adequate spontaneous cardiac output was re-established. The procedure was abandoned and the patient transferred to the intensive care unit for postoperative management. An electroencephalogram performed after 24 h was reported as normal, and clinically the child made a full neurological recovery.

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