Anesthetic management in adrenalectomy for pheochromocytoma

Pheochromocytoma is a neuroendocrine tumor of adrenal origin that produces catecholamines. The mortality associated with it is due to difficult-to-control hypertensive crises and lethal arrhythmias. Treatment is adrenalectomy, which represents a major challenge for anesthesiologists due to the pathophysiology of the tumor. Anesthetic management should be based on dynamic blood pressure control, adequate analgesia, and, above all, preoperative optimization with alpha- and beta-adrenergic blockade. The objective of this article is to compile current recommendations for the perioperative anesthetic approach to pheochromocytoma. A systematic review of the literature was conducted in PubMed and Google Scholar. This review presents an overview of perioperative anesthetic management of pheochromocytoma.