title: Cardiovascular depression during halothane anesthesia in infants: study of three induction techniques.
abstract: Hemodynamic changes during three techniques for induction of halothane anesthesia were studied in 90 healthy infants aged 5 to 26 weeks who were randomly divided into three groups of 30 patients each. In group I, anesthesia was induced using halothane in concentrations that were increased to 3%. In group II, atropine, 0.02 mg/kg, was given intramuscularly before induction, followed by induction as in group I. In group III, halothane in concentrations that were increased to 1.25% was followed by intramuscular succinylcholine, 2 mg/kg, 90 seconds after the start of induction. In all three groups N2O 3 L/min and O2 2 L/min were employed using a non-rebreathing system. Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) were recorded at 1-minute intervals for 20 minutes. HR decreased 30% in group I, 18% in group II (p less than 0.01), and 29% in group III. BP decreased 50% in group I (p less than 0.01), 34% in group II, and 33% in group III. During halothane induction in infants, bradycardia can be minimized with preoperative atropine; the degree of hypotension can be diminished with either preoperative atropine or the use of intramuscular succinylcholine combined with lower concentrations of halothane.
mesh_terms: D000769:Anesthesia, Inhalation / Q000379:methods*; D001285:Atropine; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D003864:Depression, Chemical; D006221:Halothane / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009609:Nitrous Oxide; D010100:Oxygen; D011229:Preanesthetic Medication; D013390:Succinylcholine
chemical_list: D001285:Atropine; D013390:Succinylcholine; D009609:Nitrous Oxide; D010100:Oxygen; D006221:Halothane