Caudal Block with Supplementary Intravenous Anesthesia for Thoracic and Abdominal Surgery in Infants and Young Children

In order to reduce the required dosage of intravenous anesthetics and favour early extubation,caudal block was adopted with supplementary intravenous anesthesia in 17 infants and young children for abdominothoracic surgery(Group Ⅰ).Anather group of randomly selected 27 similar cases who received total intravenous anesthesia without caudal block(Group Ⅱ),was taken for comparison.In both groups,the same induction method was used.Infusion of SCC mixed with 1 % Procaine at the same rate followed endotracheal intubation.In some cases,intermittent increments of ketamine and or fentanyl were then given intravenously for maintenance of a smooth anesthesia.As a result,fentanyl was given in 3 cases of Group Ⅰ(17.64%)and in 23 cases in Group Ⅱ(85.18%),while ketamine was given in 4 cases of Group Ⅰ(23.5%)and in 15 of Group Ⅱ(55.6%).These showed that the need of supplementary drugs was significantly lower in Group Ⅰ than in Group Ⅱ,(P<0.05).No analeptics was administered in Group Ⅰ and the average time of extubation was only 10.35±15.49 min after the end of operation.While the average time of extubation in Group Ⅱ was 36.74±44.19min after operation.The difference between the two groups was noticible(P<0.05).It is concluded that caudal block with supplementary intravenous procaine anesthesia is preferable for infants and young children who have to undergo thoracic and abdominal operations.