[Anesthetic management for caesarean delivery in a parturient with achondroplasia].

A 27-year-old parturient (height, 130 cm; weight, 43 kg) with achondroplasia, which is characterized by rhizomeric short stature, large head and frontal bossing, was scheduled for elective caesarean section (C/S) because of her contracted pelvis. Her first delivery had been performed by C/S under general anesthesia at a regional hospital 6 years before. Preoperative airway assessment showed normal mouth opening and mobile cervical spine. Since she had anxiety about needle puncture and refused neuraxial blockade and since we considered the trachea could be intubated, we decided to perform C/S under general anesthesia at 37 weeks of gestation. The patient and baby had an uneventful perioperative course. Underdevelopment of bone formation results in characteristic craniofacial and vertebral abnormalities in patients with achondroplasia. Anesthetic management of achondroplastic parturients should be specified to individual basis based on careful preoperative assessment of craniofacial and vertebral deformities.