Anesthetic management of Duchenne muscular dystrophy in emergency surgery

Abstract

Duchenne disease is a neuromuscular disease that has very important anesthetic implications that put patients at high perioperative risk and require precise knowledge for its management. A careful preoperative assessment is recommended, identifying the surgical risk and a multidisciplinary approach to ensure the best perioperative care to reduce complications. We will now present a clinical case on the management of a boy with Duchenne disease who underwent urgent surgery. Being a non-delayable surgery, the operating room was not in optimal conditions to attend this patient given his pathology (non-halogen-free respirator with the consequent risk of rhabdomyolysis and malignant hyperthermia), so we were challenged to anesthetize the patient in these less than ideal circumstances, looking for other valid alternatives that could provide quality anesthesia without reducing his safety.