[Anesthesia in anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis - is general anesthesia a requisite? A case report]

Abstract

Anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis is a recently described neurological disorder and an increasingly recognized cause of psychosis, movement disorders and autonomic dysfunction. We report 20-year-old Chinese female who presented with generalized tonic-clonic seizures, recent memory loss, visual hallucinations and abnormal behavior. Anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis was diagnosed and a computed tomography scan of abdomen reviewed a left adnexal tumor. We describe the first such case report of a patient with anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis who was given a bilateral transversus abdominis plane block as the sole anesthetic for removal of ovarian tumor. We also discuss the anesthetic issues associated with anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis. As discovery of tumor and its removal is the focus of initial treatment in this group of patients, anesthetists will encounter more such cases in the near future.

Keywords: Anti‐NMDA receptor encephalitis and anesthesia; Anti‐N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptor encephalitis; Bloqueio do plano transverso abdominal; Encefalite antirreceptor de NMDA e anestesia; Encefalite antirreceptor de N‐metil‐d‐aspartato; Transversus abdominis plane block.