Anaesthetic Management of a Patient with Gullain Barre Syndrome Posted for Emergency Caesarean Section: A Case Report

Abstract

Gullain Barre Syndrome (GBS) is an acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculopathy of rare occurrence in pregnancy. We report a case of a 36 weeks pregnant patient posted for emergency Caesarean section for foetal distress. At 28weeks of pregnancy the patient was diagnosed with GBS for which she was intubated and was on mechanical ventilation for 19 days. Subsequently she was extubated and discharged after 36 days. During this period, she received treatment with intravenous immunoglobulins and plasmapheresis. The patient continued to have weakness of both lower limbs and bladder incontinence prior to surgery. General anaesthesia was administered to the patient keeping in view the autonomic system involvement in the disease and presence of foetal distress. The intraoperative course was smooth and patient was extubated uneventfully. Keywords: Gullain Barre Syndrome, Pregnancy, Autonomic dysfunction, General anaesthesia, Emergency caesarean section