Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Myasthenia Gravis, Joel Griffith

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease that is caused primarily by antibody mediated degradation of the somatic nicotinic acetylcholine receptors or muscle specific tyrosine kinase enzymes in the neuromuscular junction causing muscle weakness (Yokoyama & Hattori, 2017). Treatment for MG utilizes acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, immunosuppression with steroids, plasmapheresis, and surgical thymectomy (Muckler, O'Brien, Matson & Rice, 2019: Okusanya et al., 2016). MG is of particular concern in the perioperative area due to the use of neuromuscular blocking agents in surgery and the potential to cause severe muscle weakness and even respiratory failure (Muckler et al., 2019).