How does anesthesia trigger malignant hyperthermia?

ABSTRACT: Malignant hyperthermia is a rare, life-threatening clinical syndrome of hypermetabolism involving the skeletal muscle. In susceptible individuals, this reaction is triggered primarily by exposure to volatile inhalational anesthetic agents and succinylcholine (a muscle relaxant).

What is malignant hyperthermia treatment?

Immediate treatment of malignant hyperthermia includes: Medication. A drug called dantrolene (Dantrium, Ryanodex, Revonto) is used to treat the reaction by stopping the release of calcium into the muscle. Other medications may be given to correct your body’s metabolic imbalance and treat complications.

Which drug causes malignant hyperpyrexia?

The most common triggering agents are volatile anesthetic gases, such as halothane, sevoflurane, desflurane, isoflurane, enflurane or the depolarizing muscle relaxants suxamethonium and decamethonium used primarily in general anesthesia.

Is malignant hyperthermia the same as malignant hyperpyrexia?

Malignant hyperthermia (MH), also called malignant hyperpyrexia, is a rare condition that runs in some families. In people who are affected, some anaesthetic drugs and gases can cause a rapid and dangerous rise in body temperature.

What anesthesia is used for malignant hyperthermia?

The European Malignant Hyperthermia Group guidelines recommend that dantrolene should be available wherever volatile anesthetics or succinylcholine are used [48].

Who does malignant hyperthermia affect?

The incidence of MH reactions ranges from 1:5,000 to 1:50,000–100,000 anesthesias. However, the prevalence of the genetic abnormalities may be as great as one in 3,000 individuals. MH affects humans, certain pig breeds, dogs, horses, and probably other animals.

Does sevoflurane trigger malignant hyperthermia?

Its low blood-gas partition coefficient allows rapid induction of and fast recovery from anesthesia. 1However, sevoflurane is also a triggering agent for malignant hyperthermia (MH), a potentially fatal hypermetabolic syndrome of skeletal muscle.

What are the first signs of malignant hyperthermia?

MH may occur at any time during anesthesia and in the early postoperative period. The earliest signs are tachycardia, rise in end-expired carbon dioxide concentration despite increased minute ventilation, accompanied by muscle rigidity, especially following succinylcholine administration.

How do you prepare anesthesia for malignant hyperthermia?

Anaesthetic machines are prepared for use with patients who are susceptible to malignant hyperpyrexia (MH) by flushing with oxygen at 10 l/min for ten minutes to reduce the anaesthetic concentration to 1 part per million (ppm) or less. Anaesthetic workstations are now often used in place of traditional machines.