Cerebral spinal fluid recovery of lidocaine and bupivacaine following respiratory arrest subsequent to retrobulbar block.

A 75-year-old man experienced a self-limited respiratory arrest following a retrobulbar injection. The injection was a mixture of bupivacaine and lidocaine. Forty-five minutes after the injection, quantities of both drugs were recovered from the patient's cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) obtained via a lumbar puncture. Theoretical evidence is presented to show that the drug levels obtained resulted from a direct intrathecal injection.