Anaesthetic management of a known case of werner syndrome by peripheral nerve block in the orthopaedic surgery of forearm

Abstract

Werner syndrome (WS) is a rare hereditary disease, characterised by the clinical signs and symptoms of premature ageing. Patients with WS usually have difficult airway due to anatomic malformation of the oral cavity. General anaesthesia with endotracheal intubation poses a high risk for these patients. On the other hand, the risk associated with the peripheral nerve block is minimal. Here we report the successful management of a known case of WS by using a peripheral nerve block (axillary brachial plexus block) without any significant complications. The patient was a 39-year-old man, a known case of WS, admitted to the hospital with chief complaint of non-healing ulcers on his wrist and elbow due to the compression effect of the abnormal ulna bone on the overlying soft tissue. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of using peripheral nerve block in the anaesthesia of a patient with WS.