title: Anaesthesia for burns in children: a review of procedures practised at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town.
abstract: Burns anaesthesia for children is a potentially hazardous procedure. We describe our technique developed over a number of years which allows a relatively large number of patients to be dealt with safety in limited theatre time. The technique involves an oral premedication with atropine (0.02 mg/kg), trimeprazine (3 mg/kg) and droperidol (0.2 mg/kg). Intramuscular ketamine (10 mg/kg) is used after an initial halothane induction and anaesthesia is maintained with intravenous ketamine, and a nitrous oxide/oxygen mixture given via nasal prongs. The advantages of the technique together with precautions and monitoring employed are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Irving
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Butt
mesh_terms: D000768:Anesthesia, General / Q000379:methods*; D016063:Blood Loss, Surgical; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation; D002056:Burns / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative; D011229:Preanesthetic Medication / Q000379:methods; D013019:South Africa