Anesthetic considerations and successful management of a patient with permanent pacemaker for cervical spine instrumentation

Patients with permanent pacemaker posted for cervical spine instrumentation pose special challenges for modern-day anesthesiologist since the field of surgery is in proximity to the pacing apparatus. The important considerations in this regard are pacemaker dependency, prior reprogramming to asynchronous mode, perioperative interference with pacemaker function due to electrolyte, acid-base disturbances, and electromagnetic interference leading to pacemaker failure and hemodynamic compromise. We report successful anesthetic management of a patient of postlaminectomy kyphosis with compressive myelopathy with permanent pacemaker in situ who underwent C5–C6 corpectomy and instrumentation under general anesthesia.