Halothane and children: the first quarter century.

For the past 25 years, halothane has been the primary anesthetic agent at Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio. To confirm our impression that adverse reactions to halothane are rarely a problem in children, we examined the records of 200,311 cases conducted with halothane from June 1, 1958, through May 31, 1983. Life-threatening complications due to side effects were identified in fifteen patients, and could be grouped into three areas: hepatitis (one), malignant hyperthermia (ten), and cardiac arrhythmias (four). No child died or sustained permanent sequelae. In eleven instances, other drugs (succinylcholine, atropine, cocaine, and epinephrine) possibly contributed to the adverse reactions.