Preexisting Ocular Motor Palsy and Central Neuroaxial Block

Ocular Motor Palsy After Spinal Puncture

Abstract Ocular motor palsy is a rare but alarming complication of subarachnoid puncture. In order to better understand this condition, a literature search was performed in English of PubMed articles for cranial nerves III, IV, and VI palsies after spinal puncture. Sixty-five articles (dated 1930–2015) were identified, and 114 cases were obtained for analysis. Subarachnoid anesthesia was the most frequent cause (45.6%), with a higher incidence for females than males. The age of patients was 40.24 ± 13.35 years (age range, 6–71 years). The sixth cranial nerve was the most commonly involved (92.1%), with higher frequency in the right eye. Palsy onset started 7.30 ± 4.09 days after puncture. D…