[Anesthetic management for a patient with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease using propofol and nitrous oxide]

A 65-year-old woman who had been diagnosed as having Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMTD) 8 years ago and was scheduled to undergo excision of a spinal tumor in the prone position. General anesthesia using propofol was selected as the anesthetic method in order to avoid possible occurrence of malignant hyperthermia due to inhalation anesthetics. The patient was given 80 mg of propofol for anesthetic induction, and then propofol was infused at a rate of 4-5 mg.kg-1.h-1 with intermittent administration of fentanyl (total dose of 0.25 mg) for anesthetic maintenance. Vecuronium 4 mg was injected for intratracheal intubation, and then vecuronium 1 mg was injected at 50 min intervals. The operation proceeded uneventfully. The necessary time for anesthesia was over 460 minutes. There was no delay in wakening, and the patient experienced no problems in the postoperative course. Intravenous anesthesia using propofol is thought to be a safe and effective method of anesthesia for patients with CMTD.