A 12-month follow-up for neurological complication after subarachnoid anesthesia in a parturient affected by multiple sclerosis

G. Martucci, A. Di Lorenzo, F. Polito*, L. Acampa**

Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Second University of Naples (Italy) *Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and **Department of Anesthesiology, Ospedale S.S. Annunziata, Naples (Italy)

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• Anesthesiology

Multiple sclerosis is common among women of childbearing age. Neuraxial blocks have been administered to them with reluctance because of the hypothetical risk that local anesthetics might be more histotoxic to neural tissue already compromised by multiple sclerosis.
In spite of the lack of uniform guidelines on disorders in pregnancy like multiple sclerosis, and of the published data that sometimes contrast each other, experience gained in recent years has indicated that regional anesthesia is safe even in these patients, but there aren’t many published cases.
We describe the case of a pregnant woman affected by multiple sclerosis in which we administered spinal anesthesia for a cesarean section, and we analyzed the aspects that literature defines as critical points in this group of patients.
The results were favorable with regard to the level, intensity and duration of anesthesia. No neurological exacerbations were recognized during the hospital stay, nor during the follow-up that lasted 12 months.

Corresponding Author: Gennaro Martucci, MD; e-mail: gennaro.martucci@libero.it

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