[Pediatric ECG monitoring. 2,500 pediatric patients under anaesthesia (author's transl)].

The authors report 98 cases of cardiac arrhythmia observed in the course of 2,500 pediatric anesthesias performed with constant electrocardiographic monitoring. The patients, aged 0 to 18 years, were in most cases healthy. Anesthesia was performed by different techniques for both surgical and non-surgical interventions for a variety of conditions, both serious and routine. Other than 3 cases of cardiac arrest (1 death) cardiac arrhythmias usually followed a benign course without hemodynamic repercussions. The authors emphasize the value of early detection of cardiac arrhythmias as well as vigorous treatment of predisposing conditions such as inadequate ventilation, acidosis and pain. The absence of correlation between the degree of rick, as estimated preoperatively (related to patient or procedure risk factors), and the frequency of occurrence seems to point to the value of more widespread use of ECG monitoring of pediatric patients undergoing anesthesia.