Low-Flow Anesthesia Technique Reduces Emergence Agitation in Pediatric Patients Underwent General Anesthesia

Abstract

Objectives: This study was designed to see the risk factors that contribute to emergence agitation (EA) and also to know the effectiveness of low-flow (LF) anesthesia technique in EA in pediatric patients.
 Methods: A total of 200 pediatric patients aged 6 months–6 years underwent surgery with general anesthesia were divided into two groups. The high-flow (HF) group was maintained with 5 l fresh gas flow (FGF), and the LF group was maintained with 500 ml FGF. The outcome was measured after the surgery was completed on Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, and Consolability and pediatric anesthesia emergence delirium (PAED) scores. Agitation defined in PAED score ≥10, and no agitation defined in PAED score <10.
 Results: EA incidence in the HF group was higher compared to the LF group (59.5 vs. 4.7%, p<0.001). HF anesthesia technique was a single risk factor for agitation event, whereas LF anesthesia may prevent EA incidence until up to 92.7%.
 Conclusion: LF anesthesia reduced agitation incidences. The effectiveness of LF was 92.7% in reducing the incidence of agitation. HF anesthesia was the main risk factor for agitation incidences.

The Effect of Anaesthesia Management with Different Fresh Gas Flows on Cognitive Functions of Geriatric Patients: A Randomized Double-blind Study

“…A low FGF prevents rapid changes in brain and alveolar agent concentrations during the termination of anaesthesia, improving recovery quality but prolonging recovery time. 1,13 In the study of Jeong et al 14 , after desflurane anaesthesia was applied with different FG, recovery times were found to be longer in patients who were administered 2 L min -1 FGF (17.6 min) compared to 4-6 L min -1 FGF (9.9 min, 9.1 min, respectively). Recovery agitation or awareness did not develop in any of the patients in this study.…”