Intra-operative neurophysiological monitoring

Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring has achieved importance due to complexity of cranio-spinal surgical procedures being performed frequently these days. Many studies have proven a decreased neurological complication rate after its introduction. It is broadly of two types: Sensory evoked potentials and motor evoked potentials which are further sub-divided. Its use during surgery requires a controlled anaesthesia technique with no or minimal influence on its recording. Its success depends upon three way communication among the surgeon the neurophysiologist and the anaesthesiologist

Anaesthesia and deep brain stimulation

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is becoming an increasingly popular minimally invasive surgical procedure for various movement disorders, especially Parkinson’s disease. Different nuclei have been identified depending on patients’ symptoms, but the success or failure of the procedure depends on various other factors such as proper patient selection and risk-benefit analysis. While various techniques of anaesthesia including monitored anaesthesia care, conscious sedation and general anaesthesia are being used routinely, no clear-cut evidence exists as to the best technique for this procedure. This review article discusses the surgical procedure of DBS, devices currently available, perioperative anaesthetic concerns and techniques, effect of anaesthetic drugs on microelectrode recordings and macro-stimulation and associated complications

Unusual association between spinal cord tumour and perioperative arrhythmia

There are multiple causes of perioperative arrhythmias. Some have underlying cardiac disease while others accompany systemic pathology. Use of anaesthetic agents in the intraoperative period is also a known cause of rhythm abnormalities. Preoperative benign arrhythmias may progress to serious ones in intraoperative period. The trigger may be a transient insult such as hypoxemia, cardiac ischaemia, catecholamine excess or electrolyte abnormality. Thus, presence of arrthymia in the preoperative period adds to preoperative work-up and especially in the elective surgery settings, they call for additional opinion and patient evaluation. However, not all arryhthmias are amenable to drug treatment and modalities like pacing, some require just careful watch in the perioperative period. We report a patient with thoracic intramedullary space occupying lesion who presented to us with multiple ventricular ectopics on electrocardiography, which eventually disappeared with tumour removal. The case highlights the association of multiple ectopics with spinal tumour and their management

A Narrative Review of Neurological Complications of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination

Adverse reactions to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine depict a tropism for neural structures. This narrative review was aimed to discuss published data on the spectrum of neurological side effects of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, which were accorded emergency use authorization. The majority of the neurological manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination are usually mild, brief, self-limiting, and easily manageable. Rarely, these side effects can be of serious nature and require hospitalization. High vigilance helps in early identification and treatment of these complications leading to good outcomes. The reported incidence of neurological complications in vaccinated population is a miniscule, and the overall benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks of side effects. However, it is crucial to conduct larger collaborative multicenter studies to prove or reject the causal association between the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and the postvaccination neurological side effects. Herein, we have tried to summarize the various neurological manifestations related to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines published in the literature from 2021 to mid-2023

Anaesthetic management and perioperative complications during deep brain stimulation surgery: Our institutional experience

Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery is an established therapeutic option for alleviating movement disorders. It represents unique challenges for anaesthesiologists. We retrospectively reviewed the patients, who underwent this surgery at our institution, to study anaesthetic management and perioperative complications. Materials and Methods: After taking approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee, medical, surgical and anaesthesia records of 67 patients who were admitted to undergo DBS surgery during 11 years period (January 2001 to December 2011) were retrieved and reviewed. Sixty-five patients underwent the procedure. Various anaesthetic events and perioperative complications were noted and appropriate statistical analysis was carried out to analyse the data. Results: Electrode placement under monitored anaesthesia care (MAC) was the most commonly used technique (86% of patients). Intra-operative complications occurred in 16 patients (24%) whereas post-operative complication occurred in 10 patients (15.4%). There was one mortality. Though age >60 years and American Society of Anesthesiologists status >II were found to be the risk factors for post-operative complications in the bivariate analysis; they were not significant in multivariate analysis. Conclusions: We report our experience of DBS surgery, which was performed using MAC in majority of patients, though general anaesthesia is also feasible. Further prospective randomised studies comprising large number of patients are warranted to corroborate our finding and to find out the most suitable sedative agent

Vasoplegic syndrome: A challenge to anaesthetic management

Perioperative hypotension is a well-recognized and relatively common problem during surgery. Vasoplegic syndrome is one such condition which is characterized by severe persistent hypotension with normal to high cardiac output and low systemic resistance. It is commonly seen in patients undergoing cardiac surgery on cardiopulmonary bypass. However, this syndrome has also been reported in off pump surgeries. Management of intraoperative hypotension may be challenging for an anaesthesiologist, if it does not respond or poorly respond to conventional therapy. We report the management of a hypertensive patient posted for spine surgery in prone position, who developed severe hypotension under anaesthesia refractory to treatment

Bispectral Index Monitoring in Guillain Barre Syndrome with Dysautonomia

Bispectral index (BIS) is commonly used as an index of depth of anaesthesia and sedation. BIS can provide an additional benefit in detecting a critical neurological event, especially if the change of neurological status is caused by the critical illness itself. We encountered such an incident where the BIS value was decreased in a patient with Guillain Barre Syndrome, possibly due to cerebral hypoperfusion. The present report emphasises that BIS can be used not only as an indicator of cerebral ischaemia, but also as a tool to judge adequacy and efficacy of interventions targeted to restore the same