[Problems of anesthesia and resuscitation in drepanocytic anemia]

A study was made of anesthesiological and resuscitation problems in 18 patients suffering from drepanocytic anemia. An examination of the results showed that the anesthesiological problems do not so much concern selection of the anesthetic as a knowledge of the physiopathology of this disease, i.e. the tendency to bronchopulmonary complications as a result of the increased viscosity of the blood, the increased mechanical fragility of the erythrocytes, and erythrostasis, with consequent rise of ischaemic necrosis and damage to the various parenchymas. It was also observed that pulmonary complications occurred more frequently in preoperatively transfused patients.