• Norifumi Kuratani and Hirosato Kikuchi.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Saitama Medical School Saitama 350-0495.
• Masui. 2007 May 1;56(5):506-8.

AbstractIn the past few years, pediatric anesthesia management changed rapidly to more evidence-based and patient-oriented practice. It has been emphasized that "focused and individualized" pre-anesthesia evaluation is preferred to routine screening of laboratory tests and X-rays. Anesthesia induction should be less stressful for children through the use of various approaches, such as preoperative preparation, sedative premedication, and parent-present induction. Cuffed tracheal tube is becoming popular for small children, and its indication should be considered individually. Laryngeal mask airway is frequently used for simple short cases. Perioperative fluid infusion therapy has been a controversial issue. Traditional therapeutic regimen using hypotonic solution with glucose is criticized as a result of the growing evidence of hyponatremia and hyperglycemia. New ventilatory modes and sedative medications are now available for pediatric patients, and lung-protective ventilatory strategy should be considered to protect immature lung from ventilator-induced lung injury. Emergence agitation from general anesthesia is an evolving problem. Sevoflurane is known to be a major risk factor for stormy wake-up. Pediatric anesthesiologists should pursue high quality of anesthesia emergence. All anesthesia residency programs should include pediatric rotation; otherwise anesthesia residents will lose opportunities to learn basic concepts of pediatric anesthesia.

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