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British Journal of Anaesthesia, 1992, Vol. 69, No. 6 645-646
© 1992 The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia

case-report

APPARENT PACEMAKER FAILURE CAUSED BY ACTIVATION OF VENTRICULAR THRESHOLD TEST BY A MAGNETIC INSTRUMENT MAT DURING GENERAL ANAESTHESIA

J. P. PURDAY, M.B., B.S., M.R.C.P.(U.K.), F.R.C.ANAES.*,1 and R. M. TOWEY, M.B., B.S., F.R.C.ANAES.{dagger}

Department of Anaesthesia, Guy's Hospital St Thomas Street, London SE1 9RT

1Correspondence to J. P. P., Canada.

A patient with a permanent pacemaker underwent radical neck dissection. After induction of anaesthesia, a magnetic surgical instrument mat was placed over the patient's chest. This caused the pacemaker to go into a threshold test which included a 2.5-s period of asystole. Surgery had to be abandoned temporarily. We suggest that magnetic instrument mats should not be used with pacemaker patients; not all pacemakers are converted to a fixed magnetic rate by application of a magnet. The anaesthetist should check to see if the patient has a pacemaker with a threshold test and, if possible, this should be rendered inactive.

*Present addresses: Department of Anaesthesia, British Columbia's Children's Hospital, 4480 Oak Street, Vancouver BC, V6H 3V4 Canada.

{dagger}Maryknoll, Sip 1421, Mnanza, Tanzania.


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