CONTINUOUS REGIONAL ANESTHESIA IN INFANTS

Physiological immaturity of the respiratory musculature and central re spiratory control centres leads to an increased risk of apnoea and res piratory complications following general anaesthesia in neonates. Regi onal anaesthetic techniques may obviate the need for general anaesthes ia and lessen the risks of perioperative morbidity. Although these tec hniques have been described in infants, previous reports have dealt wi th single shot techniques for brief surgical procedures (<60 min) Expe rience with prolonged operative cases using regional anaesthesia via i ndwelling catheters in infants is limited We present our experience wi th four infants in whom either caudal epidural or spinal anaesthesia w as administered via indwelling catheters for operative procedures that lasted 90 to 180 min. We believe this technique is an alternative to general anaesthesia in these patients.