Severe muscular rigidity following the usual analgesic dose of meperidine in the child at postanesthetic recovery room: A case report

ABSTRACT

Severe muscular rigidity is a rare but potentially serious side effect from the use of opioid, usually in high dose. However it has also been reported with the use of low to moderate dose of opioids in a few occasions. The age of the patients varied from newborn to old. These diverse and unpredictable natures of clinical manifestations seem to be related to the unknown mechanisms in the subcortical areas which are difficult to study. Now the author reports the case of severe muscular rigidity which occurred in the 5 year old child who received the usual analgesic dose of meperidine, notably in rapid injection. And after reviewing the related literatures,the author puts some emphasis regarding management of this problem.