title: Pediatric ambulatory anesthesia.
abstract: Pediatric patients often undergo anesthesia for ambulatory procedures. This article discusses several common preoperative dilemmas, including whether to postpone anesthesia when a child has an upper respiratory infection, whether to test young women for pregnancy, which children require overnight admission for apnea monitoring, and the effectiveness of nonpharmacological techniques for reducing anxiety. Medication issues covered include the risks of anesthetic agents in children with undiagnosed weakness, the use of remifentanil for tracheal intubation, and perioperative dosing of rectal acetaminophen. The relative merits of caudal and dorsal penile nerve block for pain after circumcision are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, GRB-444, Boston, MA 02114, USA. Electronic address: daugust@partners.org.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: August
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, GRB-415, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Lucinda L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Everett
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D000758:Anesthesia / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000379:methods*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000150:complications; D018570:Risk Assessment
keywords: Acetaminophen; Anxiolysis; Apnea; Circumcision; Pregnancy testing; Remifentanil; Undiagnosed hypotonia; Upper respiratory infection