Cardiopulmonary arrest in spinal anesthesia.

Background And Objectives: Spinal anesthesia is an integral part of the daily routine of countless anesthesiologists. It is considered to be a safe procedure, although some complications related to this technique, among them the most feared is cardiopulmonary arrest (cardiac arrest, CA), do exist. The real incidence of CA related to spinal anesthesia, as well as its etiology, is not known and has motivated this review article.