Anesthesia for thyroid surgery in heart transplant patients – the first case study in Serbia

Abstract

Introduction The number of patients in the world who have undergone heart transplantation is increasing, with better and longer survival rates, and therefore the number of patients who undergo various surgical interventions after transplantation is also increasing. This presents a challenge for anaesthesiologists.

Case outline A 45-year-old female patient underwent a total thyroidectomy due to suspected thyroid cancer. She had a heart transplant three years earlier. Preoperative preparation included evaluation of cardiac function, consultative examinations by a transplant cardiologist, laboratory and other diagnostic procedures, as well as a detailed analysis of all 20 medications that the patient uses in daily therapy. Common drugs were used for premedication and general endotracheal anaesthesia, with careful dose titration. Medicines were also prepared for the occurrence of heart rhythm disorders, bearing in mind that the heart is denervated, but there was no need for their use. The operation and postoperative course went smoothly and on the third postoperative day the patient was discharged from the hospital in good general condition.

Conclusion Preoperative preparation, anaesthesia, and postoperative treatment of this patient represented a challenge for our team, which was successfully overcome, considering that this is the first case of operative treatment of a patient with a transplanted heart in Serbia.

Keywords: thyroidectomy; transplanted heart; preoperative preparation