Anesthesia for Thymectomy in Myasthenia Gravis - Report of 9 cases.

Sa,  Hee Soon; Nam,  Soon Ho; Bang,  Sou Ouk; Oh,  Hung Kun

doi:1987.20.2.152

Clinical Research Article

Korean Journal of Anesthesiology 1987;20(2):152-158.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4097/kjae.1987.20.2.152

Anesthesia for Thymectomy in Myasthenia Gravis - Report of 9 cases.

Hee Soon Sa, Soon Ho Nam, Sou Ouk Bang, Hung Kun Oh

Department of Anesthesiology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

We have mnanaged the anesthetic and postoperative care in 9 patients with myasthenia gravis who underwent thymectomy and obtained following resultsa : 1) Premedication was glycoprrrolate 0.004mg/kg or atropine 0.01mg/kg and hydroxyzine 1~2mg/kg, I.M. Anesthetic induction was by thiopental 4~5mg/kg with 7he inhalation of halothane 1~2 % or enflurane 4~5%, and followed by endotracheal intubation. Anesthetic maintanance was done by N2O and halothane or enflurane. 2) Mean duration from the end of operation to intubation was 11.83+/-3.37hrs. 5 patients required reintubation. The mean duration from the extubation to reintubation was 33.11+/- 21.06hrs for these 5 patients. Over all this entire group of patients were placed on the respirator for a mean of 5.33+/-1.46dara. 3) Complication occured were 2 cases of cholinergic crisis, 1 cases of lung abscess, 2 cases of dyspnea and 1 case of tension pneumothorax 4) Abstinence of muscle relaxants, adequate respiratory care and the protection from cholinergic crisis were the most important factora for successful management.