title: Oral midazolam in paediatric premedication.
abstract: In a premedication study involving 135 children, aged 1-10 years, four regimens were investigated: (i) no premedication; (ii) oral trimeprazine tartrate 2 mg/kg, methadone 0.1 mg/kg, droperidol 0.15 mg/kg (TMD); (iii) intramuscular midazolam (Dormicum; Roche) 0.15 mg/kg; and (iv) oral midazolam 0.45 mg/kg. All premedications were given 60 minutes before a standard halothane anaesthetic. No impairment of cardiovascular stability occurred but after premedication the mean oxygen saturation decreased by 1.6% and 1.1%, respectively, in the intramuscular midazolam and TMD groups. Overall, children under 5 years of age behaved less satisfactorily in the holding room and at induction, than those over 5 years (P less than 0.01). Midazolam, intramuscularly and orally, produced more satisfactory behaviour than the other two regimens (P less than 0.05) and, combined with a 70% more rapid recovery than the TMD regimen (P less than 0.05), suggests that oral midazolam is a more effective paediatric premedication agent than placebo or TMD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, University of Stellenbosch, Parowvallei, CP.
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Payne
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Coetzee
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Mattheyse
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dawes
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004329:Droperidol / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular; D008691:Methadone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008874:Midazolam / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011229:Preanesthetic Medication; D011897:Random Allocation; D014291:Trimeprazine / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D014291:Trimeprazine; D004329:Droperidol; D008874:Midazolam; D008691:Methadone