Introduction:

A high percentage of mucopolysaccharidosis patients require surgery at some point. Common features like respiratory limitations and cardiovascular disease pose a high anesthetic risk. We describe the prevalence of anesthetic complications in our institution.

Material and methods:

Patients’ medical history and reported surgery data from 18 eligible records were reviewed from a total of 29 mucopolysaccharidosis diagnosed children registered between the years 1999 to 2019 at a hospital in Mexico.

Results:

Median age was 11 years. 12 patients were type I, two type II, three type IV, and one type VI. Intravenous premedication was administered in 69.5% and induction was intravenous in 91.3% of the surgical procedures. Orotracheal intubation was the first attempted anesthetic method in 47.8% and a laryngeal mask in another 47.8%. Bronchospasm was the most frequent complication in 17.4% followed by difficult intubation in 13.1%.

Conclusions:

Bronchospasm was the most prevalent complication. A higher Cormack-Lehane grade was primarily related. The most prevalent concomitant risk factors were short neck and restrictive chest rendering airway management difficult in comparison to the general population.