Anaesthesia for major abdominal surgery in a patient with myotonia dystrophica

A case report is presented of a woman with known myotonia dystrophica, who required partial gastric resection and cholecystectomy. Neuromuscular blockade was obtained using a single dose of vecuronium, and neuromuscular function was determined by the "train-of-four count" technique. The intraoperative course was uneventful, and it was not necessary to use neostigmine to antagonize neuromuscular blockade at the end of the operation. There were no postoperative complications and the patient was discharged from hospital 10 days later.