Does succinylcholine administration cause fatal hyperkalemic cardiac arrest in pediatric patients?
Succinylcholine administration in pediatric patients can lead to sudden rhabdomyolysis and hyperkalemic cardiac arrest with a high mortality rate of 40-55%.
THIS all began during the World Congress of Anaesthesiologists in Holland in June 1992, at an extramural multinational panel convened to prepare an educational videotape. Speakers from the United States and Germany described pediatric cases of sudden rhabdomyolysis and hyperkalemic cardiac arrest after administration of succinylcholine. Despite prompt and apparently skilled resuscitation, the mortality rate was 40 -55%. This surprising and puzzling mortality rate prompted considerable discussion and, over time, repeated reflection on what might be happening.
Gerald A. Gronert (Thu,) studied this question.