Anaesthetic Management of Pheochromocytoma in a Child

Pheochromocytomas are an unusual tumour in paediatric age group. A 6 year old hypertensive boy with left sided pheochromocytoma was scheduled for excision of tumour. He had presented with complaints of pain in abdomen, excessive sweating, headache and raised blood pressure. Diagnosis was confirmed by CT scan (abdomen) and raised 24 hour urinary catecholamine levels. Preoperative blood pressure was controlled with prazosin (α-adrenergic blocker) and propranolol (β-adrenergic blocker). The anaesthetic technique used was general anaesthesia with caudal catheter. Child was later discharged on oral antihypertensive.