Lidocaine is a local anesthetic commonly used in topical and infiltration anesthesia, regional blocks, regional intravenous anesthesia, and general anesthesia in endotracheal intubation, in addition to its antiarrhythmic and anti-epileptic uses. In our case report, a seventy-five-year-old female patient, who was scheduled for a bronchoscopy to rule out Pneumocystis carinii pneumonitis, developed a loss of consciousness with generalized tonic-clonic epileptic seizures following the use of lidocaine spray. The patient was subsequently intubated with a 3 mg midazolam while oxygen was provided by a facemask at 6 liters/min. There were signs of respiratory acidosis in the blood gas analysis done post-intubation. The patient was successfully extubated with full regain of her consciousness level two hours post- mechanical ventilation. Whether Lidocaine is used in its topical, intravenous or spray form, special precautions should be taken to prevent rare adverse complications in all procedures that require local anesthesia.
Keywords: Lidocaine, Bronchoscopy, Epileptic seizure, Respiratory acidosis
