title: Influence of premedication on the sympathetic and endocrine responses and cardiac arrhythmias during halothane anaesthesia in children undergoing adenoidectomy.
abstract: The occurrence of cardiac arrhythmia was investigated in 80 children during halothane anaesthesia for adenoidectomy. Two different premedications were studied. Forty children (group A) were premedicated with diazepam 5 mg rectally and atropine 0.3-0.4 mg sublingually and 40 (group B) received a rectal solution including diazepam 0.5 mg kg-1, morphine 0.15 mg kg-1 and hyoscine 0.01 mg kg-1. In 17 of these children (nine in group A and eight in group B) plasma concentrations of catecholamines, ACTH and corticosteroids were measured. In group A the mean plasma concentration of catecholamines increased more than 300% during surgery, while it was virtually unchanged in group B (P less than 0.01). Plasma concentrations of ACTH, cortisol and 17-alpha-hydroxyprogesterone were also greater in group A than in group B. The occurrence of ventricular arrhythmias in group A was significantly more frequent (20.0%) than in group B (2.5%) (P less than 0.05). It was concluded that in these two comparable groups of patients ventricular arrhythmia during halothane anaesthesia was almost eliminated by the use of more effective premedication, as a result of decreases in the sympathetic and endocrine responses to surgery.
mesh_terms: D000233:Adenoidectomy; D000769:Anesthesia, Inhalation; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001285:Atropine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003975:Diazepam / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006221:Halothane; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007431:Intraoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D009020:Morphine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011229:Preanesthetic Medication; D011659:Pulmonary Gas Exchange / Q000187:drug effects; D012601:Scopolamine / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D009020:Morphine; D001285:Atropine; D012601:Scopolamine; D003975:Diazepam; D006221:Halothane