MALIGNANT HYPERTHERMIA - POTENTIALLY FATAL SYNDROME IN ORTHOPEDIC PATIENTS

Malignant hyperthermia is an inherited muscular disorder and a cause of sudded death in afflicted patients. Stress arising from trauma, surgery, and other causes can initiate the syndrome. The authors studied the types of orthopaedic problems commonly seen in patients with this condition as well as the clinical manifestations and pathophysiology of the syndrome. Recognition, management, and understanding of the pathophysiology of malignant hyperthermia can be aided by a study of its similarities to porcine stress syndrome. Experimental studies of muscle and prophylaxis in swine were performed and the extension of the prophylactic use of dantrolene sodium in a management protocol in eighty surgical procedures in humans was demonstrated.