Neuromuscular Blockade Monitoring: Having It but Knowing When Not to Trust It

Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) is an enzyme involved in the degradation of depolarizing and non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBA), such as succinylcholine and mivacurium, respectively. Its deficiency is inherited or acquired, and results in paralysis of skeletal muscles after NMBA administration. We report a case of a 32-year-old pregnant woman proposed for cesarean section. General anesthesia (GA) was induced using propofol and succinylcholine. The surgical procedure was uneventful but after 40 minutes, there was no reversal of neuromuscular block (NMB). Other differential diagnoses were excluded and a deficit of BChe was assumed. When the train-of-four ratio (TOFr) achieved 40%, neostigmine/atropine led to the slow recovery of NMB up to TOFr 88%. The patient was extubated, but ventilation proved ineffective, so GA was induced and the patient was reintubated. A new measurement found a TOFr of 60%. Sedation and ventilatory support were maintained until the complete reversal of NMB (4 hours after succinylcholine). Prolonged block is a rare but serious complication of the use of succinylcholine in patients with BChE deficiency. This report not only highlights the importance of intraoperative NMB monitoring in homozygotic patients for atypical cholinesterase but also raises awareness for its careful interpretation.