Diagnostic and therapeutic application of thoracic epidural in a child with intractable cardiac arrhythmias: A case report.

A 3-year-old boy presented with episodes of uneasiness and transient loss of consciousness. Atrial tachyarrhythmias with rapid ventricular rate was diagnosed and initially unsuccessfully treated with oral antiarrhythmic drugs. Subsequent Holter monitoring revealed ventricular arrhythmias. Despite pharmacologic treatment, he needed numerous cardioversions. Surgical sympathectomy was planned. Initially, sympathectomy was achieved using a continuous high thoracic epidural block and was performed to ascertain the efficacy of the thoracic sympathectomy. This successfully reduced the ventricular arrhythmias and the need for antiarrhythmic agents. The epidural infusion was also used for pain relief following the subsequent surgical sympathectomy.