Epidural anesthesia in a patient with Huntingtons chorea

Abstract

Huntington's chorea (HC) is a rare, autosomal, dominant hereditary disorder of the nervous system. Symptoms occur in the third and fourth decade of life and manifest as involuntary choreiform movements, ataxia, and progressive mental deterioration. Only a few case reports have been published describing the anesthetic management of patients with HC. Patients are at greater risk for some intraoperative complications (e.g., regurgitation and pulmonary aspiration), poor respiratory function, prolonged response to succinylcholine and thiopental, increased sensitivity to midazolam, and postoperative shivering leading to rigid spasms. All these factors make an ideal anesthesiological management necessary for this group of patients to guarantee an absolute airway protection during all the anesthesia and a fast and safe recovery. To the best of our knowledge, epidural anesthesia in HC patients has not been reported in the literature. Herein, we present our successful experience using epidural anesthesia in a HC patient.