The transsternal thymectomy. Indication of operation and perioperative management
Summary
Between 1985 and 1998 42 transsternal thymectomies were performed. The median duration
of symptoms in myasthenia gravis patients (n = 27, 25/27 patients in stadium I/II of the Ossermann classification) was 40.3 weeks
and 70.8 days between first diagnosis and operation. In 12 patients a thymoma was
found (11/12 patients with stadium I/II of Masaoka classification), which was associated
with myasthenia gravis symptoms in 10 cases. In 3 patients thymic tumors of other
origin were verified histologically. After sugery these patients have an increased
risk of pulmonary complications. We changed 1996 the perioperative anesthesiological
procedure using total intravenous anesthesia with propofol/remifentanil and systemic
patient - controlled analgesia with piritramid in the first two days after transsternal
thymectomy. This mangement allows a quick extubation after operation and improved
lung function postoperatively.
Zusammenfassung
Zwischen 1985 und 1998 wurden 42 transsternale Thymektomien durchgeführt. Bei Patienten
mit einer Myasthenia gravis (n = 27) betrug die durchschnittliche Dauer der Symptomatik bis zur Erstdiagnose 40,3
Wochen (25/27 Patienten in Stadium I und II nach Ossermann) und weitere 70,8 Tage
bis zur operativen Therapie. Bei 12 Patienten fand sich ein Thymom (11/12 im Stadium
I und II nach Masaoka), das in 10 Fällen mit einer begleitenden Myasthenia gravis
Symptomatik einherging. In 3 Fällen fanden sich Thymustumore anderer Genese. In der
postoperativen Phase besteht bei diesen Patienten ein erhöhtes pulmonales Risiko,
das sowohl in der Narkoseführung als auch in der postoperativen Schmerztherapie berücksichtigt
werden muß. Nach Umstellung des Narkoseverfahrens (1996) auf die totale intravenöse
Anästhesie mit Propofol/Remifentanil und die routinemäßige Piritramid-Gabe über die
PCA-Pumpe wurden keine pulmonalen Komplikationen mehr beobachtet.
Key words
Myasthenia gravis - thymoma - transsternal thymectomy - Propofol - patient-controlled
analgesia
Schlüsselwörter
Myasthenia gravis - Thymom - transsternale Thymektomie - Propofol - Analgesie
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