Use of low-dose rocuronium for intubation of children during volunteer surgery abroad

BACKGROUND: Low-dose rocuronium (ROC) might improve safety during volunteer surgery abroad (VSA) by facilitating intubation with a lower halothane concentration than is typically used. We hypothesized that 0.25 mg.kg(-1) of ROC would improve intubation conditions during 3% halothane induction and still allow for rapid return to spontaneous ventilation (SV). METHODS: During Operation Smile's 2002 mission to Honduras, patients aged 3 months-11 years were randomized to receive ROC 0.25 mg.kg(-1) (n = 19), or placebo (n = 23). Induction was with 3% halothane in 100% O(2), with ventilation assisted and controlled when possible, and normocarbia maintained. An i.v. was placed after induction, and ROC or placebo given. Direct laryngoscopy (DL) was performed 3 min later by a blinded laryngoscopist who assessed conditions according to predetermined criteria. RESULTS: Adequate intubation conditions occurred in 89 and 87% of patients (P = 0.59), and mean times from DL until the return to SV were 9.8 and 4.3 min (P = 0.003), in the ROC and placebo groups, respectively. For the placebo group, the presence of SV at DL was predictive of inadequate intubation conditions (P = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: When administering 3% halothane for induction of VSA patients, a high frequency of adequate intubation conditions can be achieved without a relaxant, rendering the known benefits of 0.25 mg.kg(-1) of ROC unapparent. ROC 0.25 mg.kg(-1) does allow rapid return to SV.     

Temperature monitoring in pediatric anesthesia.

Thermoregulatory responses in infants and children are now fairly well understood. The phenomenon of heat loss in children during surgery is widely acknowledged. Hypothermia is most likely to occur during long surgical procedures in an air-conditioned operating room, particularly when respiration is controlled. Its consequences have prompted clinicians to take extra care in maintaining normothermia, especially in the very young. It is well known that anesthetized infants and children are capable of active thermoregulation and that their vasoconstrictive threshold differs little from that in adults [31]. Body temperatures can be measured using a variety of thermometers. Most clinically used thermometers are reasonably accurate. Perioperative hypothermia results from decreased metabolic heat production, increased environmental heat loss, redistribution of heat within the body, and anesthesia-induced inhibition of thermoregulation. Radiation and convection from the skin surface combine with evaporation from tissues inside surgical incisions to decrease mean body temperature. Perioperative hypothermia can be limited by prewarming the skin surface before induction of anesthesia, warming the operating room, humidifying the airway, and warming intravenous fluids.