In 1- to 24-month-old infants, the addition of 0.3 mg kg⁻¹ rocuronium to 8% sevoflurane improved intubating conditions and decreased the frequency of respiratory adverse events. Alfentanil provided no additional benefit in this study.

We report a case of fatal post-operative pneumoperitoneum in a patient who had undergone urgent mitral valve surgery. In the absence of a proven cause of the pneumoperitoneum (refusal by the family of an autopsy), we can only propose a hypothesis for its origin. The most probable one is that forceful or sustained retrograde flexion of the transoesophageal echocardiographic probe created a lower oesophagus or gastric rupture and that oxygen flow administered by the nasal cannula went straight to the abdominal cavity, leading to tension pneumoperitoneum.