[Editor’s note: This poster was accepted for presentation at the 2020 AORN National Conference and Surgical Expo, which unfortunately has been canceled because of the current Covid-19 crisis. However, the information contained on the poster contains important information that all healthcare facilities should be aware of and implement to prevent Malignant Hyperthermia and to minimize patient harm and prevent patient mortality, so we asked the poster authors to discuss their findings here. 

By Thereza  B. Ayad, RN, DNP, CNOR and Lynn Razzano, RN, MSN, ONC CMSRN

Malignant Hyperthermia (MH) complicates 1:100,000 adult surgical cases. MH is a severe reaction to a dose of anesthetics – infrequently, extreme exercise or a heat stroke can trigger MH in someone with a muscle abnormality where the individual’s muscle cells have an abnormal protein on their surfaces.

Although rare, MH can be fatal. 

MH symptoms/ manifestations include:

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