on site.
I know, an MH event is rare. It may never happen at your facility.
Chances are, it won't. But you still must prepare, prepare, prepare.
The alternative is unacceptable. I don't have hard data to back this
up, but anecdotally, I suspect the level of MH preparedness varies in
the outpatient surgery sector.
Obviously, dantrolene is expensive. The temptation is to not keep
enough dantrolene, or none at all. Please don't rely on borrowing
some from another facility or sharing some with another facility. You
should have dantrolene — and not just some, but at least the mini-
mum recommended amount: 36 vials of Revonto or Dantrium; 3 vials
of Ryanodex — on site, at all times. And you should check those expi-
ration dates, because it's only good for 2 (Ryanodex) or 3 (Revonto
and Dantrium) years.
There's so much we still don't know about MH, and such a lack of
general awareness about it, that it's impossible to predict exactly
when a crisis will occur. Your center needs a workable plan in place
for when somebody does trigger. Because that definitely will change
the outcome. And creating positive outcomes is what we're trusted
and paid to do.
OSM
7 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A R C H 2 0 1 9
Dr. Roberson (william_roberson2@bshsi.org) is an orthopedic surgeon with
Bon Secours St. Francis Health System in Greenville, S.C.
