Low-dose spinal anesthesia for urgent laparotomy in severe myasthenia gravis

oleh: Miguel Angel Palomero Rodríguez, Teresa Pérez Mencía, Felipe Villar Álvarez, Yolanda Laporta Báez, Gloria María Santos Pérez, Andrés López García

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2013-01-01

Deskripsi

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease with an incidence of 2-10/100,000 cases per year, characterized by muscle weakness secondary to destruction of postsynaptic acetylcholine receptors. In these patients, important perioperative issues remain unresolved, namely, optimal administration of cholinesterase inhibitors, risks of regional anesthesia, and prediction of need of postoperative mechanical ventilation. We describe the use of a low-dose spinal anesthesia in a patient with MG who was submitted for emergence exploratory laparotomy. The utilization of low-dose spinal anesthesia allowed us to perform surgery with no adverse respiratory or cardiovascular events in this patient.