Pituitary disease and anaesthesia

Patients with pituitary gland tumours comprise a significant proportion of the neurosurgical population, making transsphenoidal pituitary surgery a relatively common procedure. Such patients present anaesthetists with unique challenges resulting from hormone hypersecretion, pituitary hypofunction or tumour mass effect. To understand this pathophysiology requires a good working knowledge of normal pituitary anatomy and physiology. An appreciation of the respiratory and cardiovascular comorbidities associated with pituitary tumours is also essential to the anaesthetist. We aim to review the key principles involved in the preoperative assessment, intraoperative management and postoperative care of these patients.