[Comparative study of recovery from general anesthesia with halothane or sevoflurane in pediatrics].

OBJECTIVES

To assess the clinical signs of awakening and recovery from anesthesia with sevoflurane and 60% nitrous oxide in comparison with halothane and nitrous oxide administered to children.

PATIENTS AND METHOD

A prospective study in 39 pediatric ASA I-II patients under 10 years of age scheduled for infraumbilical or otolaryngological surgery. The patients were randomly assigned to 2 groups to receive sevoflurane (n = 20) or halothane (n = 19). All the children received nasal doses of 0.2 mg/kg-1 midazolam before surgery. Induction was achieved by inhalation of a mixture of 40% oxygen and 60% nitrous oxide by face mask along with increasing concentrations of sevoflurane or halothane. Maintenance was with halogenated anesthetic at 1 MAC and 60% nitrous oxide-oxygen along with nerve blockade in the infraumbilical procedures or intravenous analgesia in the otolaryngological operations. We recorded time until awakening, orientation, score on the Aldrete scale and adverse effects during the recovery period.

RESULTS

The children who received sevoflurane awoke and were well oriented earlier than were those in the halothane group (10.7 +/- 5.8 versus 18.7 +/- 9.8 min until awakening and 15.4 +/- 8.6 versus 22.1 +/- 10 min for orientation); likewise the sevoflurane group children received higher scores on Aldrete's scale earlier than did those in the halothane group. There were no statistical differences between the 2 groups with respect to side effects during the period of awakening and recovery.

CONCLUSIONS

Awakening and recovery are significantly faster with sevoflurane than with halothane, while the incidence of side effects are similar with the 2 agents.