Open Access
Anesthetic Care of a Child With Acute Flaccid Myelitis
Author(s) -
Anuradha Kanaparthi,
Joseph D. Tobias
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of medical cases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1923-4163
pISSN - 1923-4155
DOI - 10.14740/jmc3337
Subject(s) - medicine , weakness , hypotonia , anesthetic , anesthesia , hyporeflexia , surgery , pediatrics
Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) is a neurological disorder that affects the anterior horn of the spinal cord, resulting in progressive weakness, loss of motor function, hypotonia and hyporeflexia. Given the progressive and frequently long-term neurological involvement of AFM, patients may require anesthetic care during radiological imaging or other surgical procedures, such as a tracheostomy or the placement of a gastrostomy tube. We present a 4-year-old girl with AFM who required anesthetic care during a tracheostomy. The end-organ involvement of the disease is discussed, pathogenesis and treatment options are reviewed and anesthetic implications are presented.