[Caudal block and light sevoflurane mask anesthesia in high-risk infants: an audit of 98 cases].

Objective: In order to reduce the risk of postoperative apnoea, awake spinal anaesthesia or awake caudal anaesthesia are recommended for hernia surgery in newborn babies and former premature infants aged less than 60 weeks of amenorrhoea. However, additional sedation is sometimes necessary. Our working hypothesis was that a general anaesthesia with a face mask (sevoflurane) with no opiates nor neuromuscular blocking agents, maintaining the infant's spontaneous breathing and combined with a caudal anaesthesia, could provide a safe and effective alternative.

Study Design: The epidemiological and technical data about the patient and the anaesthesia, as well as any per- and postoperative complications, were collected prospectively and analysed retrospectively.

Patients And Methods: Ninety-eight infants undergoing hernia surgery were included during the period from 2003 to 2008.

Results: Caudal anaesthesia proved successful at first attempt in 69% of the infants (term or premature). Three attempts were needed in 8% of the infants born at term and 2% of the infants born prematurely. One failure was recorded. Seven patients presented one episode of peroperative apnoea; they were easily taken care of by means of brief face mask ventilation. The follow-up of these seven infants did not reveal any reappearance of postoperative apnoea/bradypnoea.

Conclusion: The technique proposed is an effective alternative to the awake locoregional anaesthesia techniques: it provides excellent conditions for surgery and presents similar perioperative morbidity and risk of postoperative apnoea.