Open AccessLow-dose spinal anesthesia for urgent laparotomy in severe myasthenia gravis
Author(s) -
Miguel Ángel Palomero Rodríguez,
Teresa Pérez Mencía,
Felipe Villar Álvarez,
Yolanda Laporta Báez,
Gloria María Santos Pérez,
Andrés López García
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
saudi journal of anaesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.416
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 1658-354X
pISSN - 0975-3125
DOI - 10.4103/1658-354x.109836
Subject(s) - medicine , myasthenia gravis , exploratory laparotomy , perioperative , anesthesia , adverse effect , spinal anesthesia , incidence (geometry) , muscle weakness , laparotomy , weakness , mechanical ventilation , ventilation (architecture) , surgery , mechanical engineering , physics , optics , engineering
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.