Epidural anesthesia and esophageal atresia. Apropos of a case
Courrèges, P.; Poddevin, F.; Lecoutre, D.; Bayart, R.
Cahiers d'Anesthesiologie 43(5): 471-474
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 0007-9685 PMID: 8564673 Document Number: 447710
We report the good results of a thoracic epidural analgesia for oesophageal atresia repair in a 3-day old girl. Surgery was performed under light general anaesthesia combined with a single epidural injection of bupivacaine 0.25% (0.5 ml.kg-1) with epinephrine through a 19 G catheter (T7 space, descending to T5). During the three following days, a continuous epidural infusion was used (0.2 ml.kg-1.h-1 bupivacaine 0.125%). Intraoperative analgesia and postoperative analgesia were adequate, the latter being assessed by the Barrier-Amiel-Tison pain scale. Thus heavy postoperative care could be avoided, namely mechanical ventilation. Recovery was uneventful.