Anesthetic Care for Face Transplantation

Abstract

This chapter will address the current state of clinical experience and scientific knowledge in the perioperative management of the face transplant recipient and donor. Areas of controversy will be discussed, and practical approaches to the preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative care of the face transplant recipient will be presented. Several key points should be emphasized: airway management can be a special challenge and often involves tracheostomies in both the donor and the recipient; fluid management is especially important in ensuring good graft perfusion in both the donor and the recipient; and there may be periods where muscle relaxation should be avoided to facilitate nerve identification using electrical stimulation. A critically important consideration is that the anesthesia and surgical teams jointly discuss their clinical plans.