Early Intralipid Therapy May Have Prevented Bupivacaine-Associated Cardiac Arrest

Local anesthetic-induced cardiotoxicity remains a complication of regional anesthesia, with the potential to result in cardiac arrest refractory to resuscitation. Successful resuscitation using Intralipid (Baxter Pharmaceuticals by Fresenius Kabi, Uppsala, Sweden), has been reported in 2 patients with bupivacaine-induced cardiac arrest. We report another case for which Intralipid was used as part of a successful resuscitation in a patient with local anesthetic-induced cardiotoxicity. Early treatment with Intralipid may help prevent cardiac arrest and speed successful resuscitation efforts.