Anaesthetic management in a patient with multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a rare autoimmune demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system clinically manifesting as periodic attacks of varied neurologic symptoms, eventually progressing to fixed neurologic deficits and disability. The treatment is symptomatic and directed towards prevention of future progression of the disease involving multiple agents. We present here a case report of a patient with MS who underwent an orthopaedic procedure under general anaesthesia (G.A.) uneventfully. Anaesthetic implications include assessment of neurological deficits with documentation pre- and postoperatively, awareness towards side-effects, potential drug interactions of medications, selection of suitable techniques/anaesthetic agents, neuromuscular monitoring-guided titration of non-depolarizing blocking agents with lowest necessary dose and avoidance of hyperthermia along with temperature, haemodynamic and respiratory monitoring. Lower concentrations of local anaesthetic (LA) should be used for regional blocks keeping in mind the susceptibility of demyelinated neurons, towards LA neurotoxicity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of anaesthetic management of MS in India.