Malignant Hyperthermia in Pediatric Surgery: Essential Awareness and Crisis Management

Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is an unusual complication of surgery, and pediatric surgeons might not routinely account for the possibility of MH intraoperatively. Our team recently encountered an intraoperative MH crisis in an otherwise healthy child undergoing an elective laparoscopic procedure, and it served as a reminder of the need for awareness, early identification, and rapid intervention by both surgical and anesthesia teams. Here we present a summary of lessons learned from the encounter, and our perspective on what a pediatric surgeon should know about MH.