Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome: Implications for an anaesthesiologist

Abstract

Wolff–Parkinson–White (WPW) syndrome is an electrical conduction abnormality of the heart that can induce potentially fatal arrhythmias at intermittent intervals. The induction and maintenance of general anaesthesia for a patient with WPW syndrome are risky due to the triggering capability of arrhythmias by various drugs and instrumentation. We hereby present the case of a 28-year-old male with previous cardiac illness, admitted for neurosurgical procedure, with drug-controlled WPW syndrome. The pre-operative optimisation, intraoperative scrutiny and vigil, along with readiness of standby medications and defibrillator made the ingress and egress from general anaesthesia uneventful. Thus, the potential dangers of WPW syndrome can be circumvented with watchful preparedness and meticulous monitoring.

Keywords

• arrhythmia
• neuroanaesthesia
• wolff–parkinson–white syndrome