title: Spinal anaesthesia in full-term infants of 0-6 months: are there any differences regarding age?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the study was to report our experience concerning the effectiveness, complications and safety of spinal anaesthesia, and to determine whether spinal anaesthesia was effective in full-term infants undergoing elective inguinal hernia repair.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-eight full-term infants aged < 6 months were included in the study. Infants were divided into three groups; Group I (< 1 month, n = 20), Group II (> 1 and < 3 months, n = 26), and Group III (3-6 months, n = 22). All spinal blocks were performed under mask inhalation anaesthesia. A dose of bupivacaine 0.5% 0.5 mg kg(-1) was used for infants under 5kg and 0.4 mg kg(-1) for those over 5 kg. Heart rate, mean arterial pressure, respiratory rate and SPO2 were recorded before and after spinal anaesthesia at 5 min intervals. Time to onset of analgesia, time to start of operation, duration of operation, anaesthesia and hospitalization, postoperative analgesic requirement and complications were recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Adequate spinal anaesthesia without sedation was better, time to obtain maximum cutaneous analgesia was shorter and need for sedation and postoperative analgesic requirement were significantly lower in Group I. Although heart rate, mean arterial pressure and respiratory rate decreased < 20% in all groups following spinal analgesia, the decrease in Group I was lower than the others.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Spinal anaesthesia is an effective choice in inguinal hernia repair for full-term infants aged < 1 month, providing excellent and reliable surgical conditions. However, this technique is not as useful for infants aged between 1 and 6 months.
authors.affiliation: Inonu University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anaesthesiology, Malatya, Turkey. akoroglu@inonu.edu.tr
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Köroğlu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Durmuş
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Toğal
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ozpolat
authors.forename: M O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Ersoy
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000762:Anesthesia Recovery Period; D000775:Anesthesia, Spinal / Q000009:adverse effects; D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D002045:Bupivacaine; D013505:Digestive System Surgical Procedures; D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures; D005260:Female; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006552:Hernia, Inguinal / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007431:Intraoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D015656:Respiratory Mechanics / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D002045:Bupivacaine