POSTOPERATIVE MUSCLE SPASM IN A CHILD WITH CEREBRAL PALSY: A CASE REPORT

Cerebral palsy is a non-progressive motor disorder which occurs due to hypoxic insult to fetus during perinatal period. These children often present for elective surgical procedures to correct various deformities. Peri-operative care of a child with cerebral palsy is a real challenge to the anaesthetics because of associated comorbidities. Yet another problem in these patients is behavior abnormality and difficulty in communication. Therefore regional anaesthesia is usually combined with general anaesthesia and not used alone. The two most important anaesthetics concerns in these patients are hypothermia and post-operative muscle spasm. Epidural analgesia is the most effective method of post-operative pain relief. Even though opioids can be used for post-operative analgesia, clonidine is more effective in relieving post-operative muscle spasm. In this case report we have discussed about the anesthetic management and postoperative muscle spasm in a child with cerebral palsy.