Publication:

Anesthesia management of patient with achondroplasia for abdominal hysterectomy

Achondroplasia is the commonest form of dwarfism. These patients present several problems for both general and regional anesthesia. There are reports describing regional anesthesia in such patients but there are scarce reports of general anesthesia. The aim of this report is to discuss anesthetic considerations in such patients and to emphasize the difficulties encountered. A 34 year old patient with achondroplasia underwent abdominal hysterectomy under general anesthesia supplemented with regional analgesia. Since preoperative assessment suggested difficult airway, regional anesthesia was planned which was not successful due to spinal abnormality. Subsequently general anesthesia was established with Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA) with controlled ventilation without any complication.