Malignant Hyperthermia during General Anesthesia and Anesthetic Management for That Same Patient in Day Surgery Center: A case report / 대한마취과학회지

Malignant hyperthermia is a potentially fatal hypermetabolic syndrome characterized by hyperpyrexia and skeletal muscle rigidity. We experienced a case of malignant hyperthermia after general anesthesia with halothane and succinylcholine in day surgery center. 2 years old male patient arrived to get congenital ptosis operation. He was relatively healthy and had no considerable past or family history of hereditary disease. Anesthesia induced with halothane inhalation and succinylcholine. After induction, he abruptly showed masseter muscle rigidity, total body rigidity, elevation of end-tidal CO2 tension, tachycardia and hyperthermia. Under the suspicion of malignant hyperthermia, all anesthetics were discontinued and vigorous emergency treatment was attemped with dantrolene sodium. The patient survived without any sequele and discharged after 11 days. About 10 months later, that same patient comes to our hospital to take the operation. We experienced successful anesthetic management for malignant hyperthermia.

Spinal Anesthesia for Cesarean Section: A comparison of three doses of hyperbaric bupivacaine mixed with fentanyl / 대한마취과학회지

BACKGROUND: Spinal anesthesia for cesarean section is regaining popularity because it offers better intraoperative analgesia and relaxation than epidural anesthesia. Hyperbaric bupivacaine has been known to ameliorate visceral pain more than tetracaine and fentanyl seems to potentiate analgesic effect of bupivacaine. We evaluated if adding fentanyl reduce the dose of spinal hyperbaric bupivacaine. METHODS: Sixty healthy term parturients scheduled for elective cesarean section randomly received 8, 10 or 12 mg of 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine intrathecally, which was mixed with fentanyl 10 g. Intraoperative analgesia was checked with visual analog scale. Sensory blockade variables such as time to T4 block, maximal block height, time to maximal block height, time to and degree of motor block and muscle relaxation were assessed. We also checked side effects and times of regression to T10, complete motor recovery and start of postoperative pain. RESULTS: All patients had no intraoperative pain. The time to sensory block T4 and the level of maximum sensory block were not significantly different between three groups. Though only 70% of 8 mg group showed complete motor block, which is significantly less than 100% of 10 or 12 mg group (p=0.01), muscle relaxation was equally excellent in three groups. They showed no significant difference in side effects, but sensory and motor recovery and start of postoperative pain were faster in 8 mg group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: After mixing with fentanyl 10 g, 10 mg or more of 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine was not necessary and 8 mg was enough in spinal anesthesia for cesarean section.