The Child with Cerebral Palsy and Anaesthesia

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the result of an injury to the developing brain during the antenatal, perinatal or postnatal period. Clinical manifestation relate to the areas affected. Patients with CP often present for elective surgical proce-dures to correct various deformities. Anaesthetic concerns of anaesthesia are intraoperative hypothermia , and slow emergence. Suxamethonium does not cause hyperkalaemia in these patients, and a rapid sequence induction may be indicated. Temperature should be monitored and an effort made to keep the patient warm. Cerebral abnormalities may lead to slow awakening; the patient should remain intubated until fully awake and airway reflexes have returned. Pulmonary infection can complicate the postoperative course. Postoperative pain management and the prevention of muscle spasms are important and drugs as baclofen and botulinum toxin are discussed. Epidural analgesia is particu-larly valuable when major orthopaedic procedures are performed.