Anesthetic Considerations and Management of Transposition of the Great Arteries

Abstract

Transposition of the great arteries was once an almost uniformly fatal disease in infancy. Six decades of advances in surgical techniques, intraoperative care, and perioperative management have led to at least 90% of patients reaching adulthood, most with a good quality of life. This review summarizes medical and surgical decision making during the neonatal perioperative period, with a special emphasis on factors pertinent to the anesthetic evaluation and care during primary surgical repair of transposition of the great arteries. A review is also provided of anesthetic considerations for noncardiac surgery later in childhood or adulthood, for those survivors of the arterial switch operation, Rastelli procedure, Nikaidoh procedure, and the réparation á l'étage ventriculaire procedure.

Keywords: cardiac anesthesia; children; congenital heart disease; deep hypothermic circulatory arrest; neonatal intensive care; neonate.