Anesthetic agents and other considerations for safe operative care
- There are always risks with anesthetics and there are special considerations in DMD to allow anesthetics to be given safely including using total intravenous anesthetics and avoiding specific drugs.
- Minimizing loss of blood is important especially in major surgery such as spinal fusion. In this situation, the surgeon and anesthetist may decide to use specific techniques to help with this.
- Full details are available in the main document.
Important facts to remember
- There are always risks with anesthesia; however, special considerations in DMD can allow anesthesia to be given more safely, such as the use of a total intravenous anesthesia technique and absolute avoidance of the drug succinylcholine.
- Proper assessments of the heart and lungs are important when planning for surgery.
- Make sure that all physicians are properly informed about DMD and all interventions (medicines) your son is getting.
