Postoperative Respiratory Complications of Patients with Myotonic Dystrophy

Abstract

  We examined the postoperative respiratory complications of eight patients with myotonic dystrophy (MD) and analyzed the risk factors for these complications. Two patients suffered from postoperative respiratory complications which needed long-term mechanical ventilation, one patient suffered from aspiration pneumonia, and the other patient from respiratory failure due to respiratory muscle weakness. These two patients complained of difficulty in standing and dysphagia which is indicative of advanced MD, and hypercapnea preoperatively, and underwent open heart surgery. The other six patients with no postoperative respiratory complications underwent less invasive, non-open heart surgery, and the MD of most of these patients was at an early stage. This study shows that special precautions to avoid postoperative respiratory complications are mandatory for patients with advanced MD who undergo major surgery, especially open heart surgery.