“CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION” AT AN ANESTHETIC COCKTAIL PARTY WITH ATRIOVENTRICULAR DISSOCIATION

A healthy 21-year old female patient received midazolam, propofol, fentanyl, rocuronium, nitrous oxide in oxygen, ranitidine, diclofenac, neostigmine and glycopyrrolate during the anesthetic process for elective knee arthroscopy and developed a complete AV dissociation with a P-wave frequency of 40 and a “small” QRS-complex frequency of 55 beats/min. Based on this typical case of poly-pragmatic anesthetic drug administration causing a complete atrioventricular dissociation in a young healthy patient we will discuss the possible pharmacodynamic mechanisms of all used drugs with regard to the cardiac conduction system.