Before the anesthesia
Prior to each procedure, a detailed medical history of the entire medically relevant history of the child to be treated is taken. This is important, because under certain circumstances it may be necessary to reschedule the date of surgery. Parents, as well as the child to be treated, are informed about all risks in good time before the operation and have the opportunity to ask questions about the exact course of the operation and the anesthesia.
Depending on age, there are different times for which the child to be treated must fast. For all children older than six months, no food, including sweetened drinks, should be taken for at least about six hours before the operation. For infants under 6 months of age, the time is four hours before the operation.
Unsweetened liquids should be avoided by all age groups at least two hours before surgery. About 60 minutes before the procedure, a sedative is administered, which will relax the child and make it a little sleepy. Shortly before the operation, either skin numbing patches (EMLA patches) or a spray is applied to the arm, which makes the catheter placement as painless as possible. In children who do not allow the catheter to be placed, the anaesthesia can usually be inhaled using anaesthetic gas before the intravenous access is placed.
During anesthesia
In the operating room, the child is positioned and the monitoring devices are attached. These devices monitor the child’s blood pressure, pulse and respiration during the entire procedure. Afterwards the anaesthesia is induced.
Depending on whether an intravenous access could be placed, the induction is carried out with drugs which are administered via the vascular system or inhaled with anaesthetic gases. The maintenance of general anesthesia is usually carried out according to the balanced model of general anesthesia. This means that both anaesthetic gas is mixed into the air we breathe and intravenous medication is administered by means of syringe pumps.
