[Pediatric anesthesia in France. Which patients? What reasons?].

The population undergoing anaesthesia and the reasons for such a procedure were studied in children (under 15 years of age), through data collected in an INSERM national survey on anaesthesia. This survey was representative of the whole anaesthetic activity performed yearly in France. 750,000 anaesthesias are performed each year in paediatrics, giving an annual rate of 6.4 anaesthesias per 100 children. The highest rate was observed at the age of 4 years, and the higher percentage of boys exists at any age. The main fields of intervention are ENT surgery (30.9%), digestive surgery (25.2%), orthopedic and trauma surgery (12,2%) and surgery on male genitalia (8.9%). The most common procedure is appendectomy which accounts for one fifth of all procedures in children (153,000 each year).