Total intravenous anesthesia for infants and children undergoing correction of tetralogy of Fallot: sufentanil versus sufentanil-flunitrazepam technique.

The effects of two total intravenous anesthetic techniques were compared in 20 infants and children undergoing primary correction of tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). All patients (mean body weight, 11.4 +/- 4.2 kg; range, 6 to 20 kg; mean age, 32 +/- 21 months, range, 7 to 85 months) were premedicated with atropine, 0.02, mg/kg, morphine, 0.2, mg/kg, and flunitrazepam, 0.04 mg/kg, intramuscularly, 1 hour preoperatively. Anesthesia was induced with 1 microgram/kg of sufentanil (S) and pancuronium, 0.1 mg/kg, intravenously. Patients were ventilated with 100% oxygen. Hemodynamic parameters, heart rate (HR), systolic (SBP), diastolic (DBP) and mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), central venous pressure (CVP), and peripheral arterial blood oxygen saturation (SaO2) were recorded. Plasma concentrations of S, epinephrine (E), norepinephrine (NE), and blood gases were determined. To obtain a further depth of anesthesia, 10 patients (SM group) received 4 micrograms/kg of S and 10 patients (SF group) received 4 micrograms/kg of S in combination with flunitrazepam, 40 micrograms/kg, in a randomized manner. Measurements were made before and after induction of anesthesia, before and after anesthetic loading, 2 minutes after sternotomy, 15 minutes after initiation of extracorporeal circulation (ECC), and at sternal closure. Peak values for plasma S concentrations of 3.14 +/- 1.13 (SM group) and 3.45 +/- 97 ng/mL (SF group) were found before sternotomy. Following intubation HR, SBP, DBP, and MAP remained close to values measured before induction, but SaO2 increased significantly (P less than 0.01) in all patients. HR, SBP, and MAP decreased during anesthetic loading in both groups. Hemodynamics and plasma E and NE remained essentially unchanged after sternotomy in the SF group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)