Bilateral corneal denting after surgery under general anesthesia: A case report.

PURPOSE: To report a case of temporary bilateral corneal denting in a patient who underwent cardiovascular surgery under general anesthesia.

OBSERVATIONS: A 71-year-old male with no history of ophthalmological disease experienced bilateral corneal denting immediately after undergoing surgery for aneurysm of the thoracic aorta under general anesthesia. Anesthesia was induced with propofol and maintained with rocuronium bromide and remifentanil hydrochloride. The initial examination revealed significant denting on the surface of both the corneas and ocular hypotension. Visual evaluation could not be performed due to the patient's low level of consciousness resulting from delayed emergence from anesthesia. After applying tropicamide and phenylephrine ophthalmic solution for fundus examination, the ocular morphology improved. Ocular pressure was normal on the day after surgery, and creasing on the surface of the corneas had disappeared.

CONCLUSIONS

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Importance

We experienced a patient with bilateral corneal denting following a cardiovascular surgery under general anesthesia. The dents could be attributed to augmentation of ocular hypotension using several types of anesthesia at relatively high doses.