What is the antidote for malignant hyperthermia?

Category: medical health cancer
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Treatment: Dantrolene, supportive care



Also question is, how do you treat malignant hyperthermia?

As soon as malignant hyperthermia is suspected, doctors must act rapidly to treat the condition and prevent complications. The first and most important step is to immediately stop giving the triggering medication and to stop the surgery. Doctors then give the drug dantrolene (Dantrium). Dantrolene relaxes the muscles.

Also Know, how is malignant hyperthermia detected? The caffeine halothane contracture test (CHCT) is the criterion standard for establishing the diagnosis of malignant hyperthermia (MH). The test is performed on freshly biopsied muscle tissue at 30 centers worldwide; one of these centers is located in Canada, and four are located in the United States.

Furthermore, what is dantrolene the antidote for?

Dantrolene produces relaxation of skeletal muscle without causing complete paralysis, and is the only xenobiotic proven to be effective for both treatment and prophylaxis of malignant hyperthermia (MH).

What is the first sign of malignant hyperthermia?

Early clinical signs of MH include an increase in end-tidal carbon dioxide (even with increasing minute ventilation), tachycardia, muscle rigidity, tachypnea, and hyperkalemia. Later signs include fever, myoglobinuria, and multiple organ failure. Anesthetics are inconsistent in triggering MH.

37 Related Question Answers Found

Can you die from malignant hyperthermia?

Malignant hyperthermia is a condition that triggers a severe reaction to certain drugs used as part of anesthesia for surgery. Without prompt treatment, the disease can be fatal. The genes that cause malignant hyperthermia are inherited.

What disease is most associated with malignant hyperthermia?

The most common of these conditions are Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy. Although rhabdomyolysis with hyperkalemia can be a feature of MH, the MH syndrome usually manifests signs of hypermetabolism, such as respiratory acidosis, metabolic acidosis, and excessive heat production.

How long is dantrolene given?

Dantrium Intravenous: The recommended prophylactic dose of Dantrium Intravenous is 2.5 mg/kg, starting approximately 1-1/4 hours before anticipated anesthesia and infused over approximately 1 hour.

What drugs cause malignant hyperthermia?

The most common triggering agents are volatile anesthetic gases, such as halothane, sevoflurane, desflurane, isoflurane, enflurane or the depolarizing muscle relaxants suxamethonium and decamethonium used primarily in general anesthesia.

How long after anesthesia can malignant hyperthermia occur?


, malignant hyperthermia typically occurs shortly after anesthesia is first given. But it can occur at any time during anesthesia or in rare cases may occur as late as 24 hours after surgery. Malignant hyperthermia is very rare.

Can propofol cause malignant hyperthermia?

Propofol may be a useful anesthetic in the management of malignant hyperthermia patients. It appears not to trigger malignant hyperthermia while providing stress-free conditions. This case report, along with a small number of others, documents the safe use of propofol for this patient population.

Is malignant hyperthermia rare?

Malignant hyperthermia occurs in 1 in 5,000 to 50,000 instances in which people are given anesthetic gases. Susceptibility to malignant hyperthermia is probably more frequent, because many people with an increased risk of this condition are never exposed to drugs that trigger a reaction.

How do you prepare anesthesia for malignant hyperthermia?

Anaesthetic machines are prepared for use with patients who are susceptible to malignant hyperpyrexia (MH) by flushing with oxygen at 10 l/min for ten minutes to reduce the anaesthetic concentration to 1 part per million (ppm) or less.

What type of drug is dantrolene?

Dantrolene is classified as a direct-acting skeletal muscle relaxant. It is currently the only specific and effective treatment for malignant hyperthermia.

How does dantrolene work?


Dantrolene sodium is a postsynaptic muscle relaxant that lessens excitation-contraction coupling in muscle cells. It achieves this by inhibiting Ca2+ ions release from sarcoplasmic reticulum stores by antagonizing ryanodine receptors.

What is the generic name for dantrolene?

Dantrium is used to treat muscle spasticity (stiffness and spasms) caused by conditions such as a spinal cord injury, stroke, cerebral palsy, or multiple sclerosis.

Is dantrolene a calcium channel blocker?

Due to its ability to reduce intracellular calcium levels, dantrolene is a specific and effective agent in the treatment of malignant hyperthermia. Verapamil, a calcium channel blocker, has the ability to decrease calcium influx and can interact with dantrolene to produce hyperkalemia and myocardial depression.

How does dantrolene affect temperature?

Dantrolene is used for treatment of life-threatening hyperthermia, yet its thermoregulatory effects are unknown. We tested the hypothesis that dantrolene reduces the threshold (triggering core temperature) and gain (incremental increase) of shivering. The gain of shivering was the slope of oxygen consumption vs.

Why does body temperature rise during malignant hyperthermia?

Malignant hyperthermia is a rare, life-threatening rise in body temperature that occurs in susceptible people who are given certain muscle-relaxing drugs plus an anesthetic gas for surgery. Muscle cells become overactive, causing sustained muscle contractions that produce heat and raise body temperature extremely high.

What are the side effects of dantrolene?


Common side effects of Dantrium Intravenous include:
  • muscle weakness,
  • drowsiness,
  • dizziness,
  • low energy,
  • tired feeling,
  • injection site reactions (pain, redness, or swelling),
  • diarrhea,
  • constipation,

What is malignant hyperthermia?

Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a disease that causes a fast rise in body temperature and severe muscle contractions when someone with MH gets general anesthesia. MH is passed down through families. Hyperthermia means high body temperature.

Is dantrolene a controlled substance?

Dantrolene is used in the treatment of malignant hyperthermia; chronic spasticity and belongs to the drug class skeletal muscle relaxants. Dantrolene 50 mg is not a controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).