Anaesthetic management in paramyotonia congenita (PC) or 'paradoxical myotonia' poses perioperative challenges to the anaesthesiologists both in obstetric and non-obstetric surgical patients. There are only a few case reports on the anaesthesia management particularly in the obstetric population. Therefore, we aimed to present the management of analgesia of labour and emergency caesarean delivery for a 26-year-old parturient with PC.
We report an undiagnosed case of myotonia congenita in a 24-year-old previously healthy primigravida, who developed life threatening masseter spasm following a standard dose of intravenous suxamethonium for induction of anaesthesia. Neither the patient nor the anaesthetist was aware of the diagnosis before this potentially lethal complication occurred.