We recently had a patient(46 year-old) who was to undergo resection of a pheochromocytoma.
The patient was treated with phenoxybenzamine for about 2 weeks preoperatively.
Thiopental was used for induction followed by N₂O-O₂-halothane. An endotracheal semiclosed circle absorption technique with controlled ventillation was employed.
The course of anesthesia was rather stromy, reflectedby hypertension, arrhythmia and hypotension, but the patient tolerated the anesthesia and surgery well with appropriate cardiovascular control using regitine, levophed, lidocaineand intravenous fluids.
Importance of preoparative preparation, sufficient sedation, smooth induction, complete analgesia, good muscuar relaxation, adequate alveolar ventillation and proper cardiovascular control has been discussed.
Recently some reviews of the literature on the anesthetic management of pheochromocytoma suggest that the selection of an anesthetic agent is not as important as the adequate management of the characteristics of these agents which affect the anesthetic procedures.
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