Spinal anesthesia for diagnostic cardiac catheterization in high-risk infants.

Background: The main goals of diagnostic cardiac catheterization (DCC) in infants are to evaluate the anatomy and physiology of congenital and acquired cardiac defects while maintaining normal respiratory and hemodynamic variables. The aims of anesthesia for infants undergoing DCC are to prevent pain and movement during the procedure. General anesthesia (GA) or deep sedation could have undesirable respiratory and hemodynamic effects for conducting such studies.