Fj. Frei et al., MINIMUM ALVEOLAR CONCENTRATION FOR HALOTHANE IN CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL-PALSY AND SEVERE MENTAL-RETARDATION, Anaesthesia, 52(11), 1997, pp. 1056-1060
Children with cerebral palsy and severe mental retardation who present
for operation may require lower concentrations of inhalational anaest
hetics than healthy children. The minimum alveolar concentration (MAC)
for halothane was measured in 36 children and adolescents, aged 4-18
years, who underwent orthopaedic surgery. The control group consisted
of 12 healthy children (group 1). Children with cerebral palsy and sev
ere mental retardation were allocated to one of two groups: those taki
ng chronic anticonvulsant medication (group 2) (n = 12) and those who
did not take any drugs (group 3) (n = 12). The mean (SEM) MAC value fo
r halothane (expressed in volume per cent) was 0.90 (0.02) for healthy
children. Children with cerebral palsy had significantly lower MAC va
lues whether they took anticonvulsant drugs or not (0.62 (0.03) and 0.
71 (0.10), respectively).