A rare complication of anesthesia in newborn: malignant hyperthermia

Malign hyperthermia is a rare anesthesia-related disorder which may be fatal. Here, we present a newborn who developed malign hyperthermia after general anesthesia and recovered with dantrolene treatment. Anesthesia with sevoflurane was performed in the patient planning examination of the upper airways under general anesthesia. One hour after anesthesia the patient developed hyperthermia, tachycardia, tachipnea and muscle rigidity and a diagnosis of malignant hyperthermia was made with clinical and laboratory findings. The findings improved dramatically with dantrolene treatment. (Turk Arch Ped 2012; 47: 210-2)