Anesthesiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Clinical characteristics of sevoflurane in children. A comparison with halothane.
For pediatric patients, sevoflurane may be an alternative to halothane, the anesthetic agent used most commonly for inhalational induction. The induction, maintenance, and emergence characteristics were studied in 120 unpremedicated children 1-12 yr of age randomly assigned to receive one of three anesthesia regimens: sevoflurane with oxygen (group S), sevoflurane with nitrous oxide and oxygen (group SN), or halothane with nitrous oxide and oxygen (group HN). ⋯ Sevoflurane with nitrous oxide provides satisfactory anesthetic induction and intubating conditions; however, induction using sevoflurane without nitrous oxide is associated with a high incidence of patient excitement and prolonged time to intubation. There were greater decreases in heart rate and systolic blood pressure during induction with halothane than with sevoflurane; however, these differences may be dose-related. The more rapid emergence with sevoflurane when compared with halothane is consistent with the low solubility of sevoflurane in blood and tissues. Children receiving sevoflurane for up to 9.6 MAC-hours did not develop high serum fluoride concentrations.