Sneezing Reflex Associated with Intravenous Sedation and Periocular Anesthetic Injection
Accepted 15 February 2008. published online 26 March 2008.
Purpose
To assess and compare the frequency of reflex sneezing occurring during periocular anesthetic injections with and without intravenous sedation.
Design
Retrospective, comparative case series.
Methods
Seven hundred and twenty-two patients undergoing oculoplastic surgical procedures were included in this study. Those who received a periocular anesthetic injection under intravenous sedation served as the test group of 381 subjects. Those who received a periocular anesthetic injection without intravenous sedation served as the control group of 341 subjects. The absence or presence of reflex sneezing in both groups was recorded and compared using Chi-square analysis.
Results
Of the 381 patients who received periocular anesthetic injections under intravenous sedation, 19 (5%) exhibited a vigorous sneeze. Conversely, none of the 341 patients who received periocular anesthetic injections without intravenous sedation sneezed (P ≤ .001).
Conclusions
Surgeons, anesthesia staff, and other operating room personnel should be aware of this unusual and potentially dangerous sneeze phenomenon when periocular anesthetic injections are delivered under intravenous sedation to reduce potential ocular complications.
Department of Ophthalmology at Albany Medical Center, Lions Eye Institute, Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery, Slingerlands, New York.
Inquiries to Eric S. Ahn, Albany Medical Center, Lions Eye Institute, 1220 New Scotland Avenue, Suite 302, Slingerlands, NY 12159
ABSTRACT