Summary

Local anaesthesia has been used in many Otorhinolaryngology surgical procedures. So, the surgeon has to be able to deal with the complications presented after the use of local anaesthetics and to know their pharmacologic properties, dosages and serum concentrations. The authors present three cases showing the problems caused by the use of local anaesthetics: spray lidocaine 10% as pre-anaesthetic followed by an infiltration of bupivacaine 0,5%. The complications presented were convulsions, respiratory and cardiovascular failure, solved by endotracheal intubation and the use of drugs such as succinylcholine and thiopentone.