Anaesthesia and analgesia

Abstract

Over the past 70 years or so, provision of anaesthesia for the child requiring surgery has developed from being a relatively haphazard affair to achieving the status of a recognized subspecialty. The improved outcomes seen following surgery, where even very young and ill infants and children are concerned, have been due in no small part to advances in anaesthetic management. Equally important has been an increased appreciation of the need for an effi cient smooth-working team. The success of major paediatric surgery depends on the maximum cooperation between surgeon, anaesthetist, paediatrician, and nursing and paramedical personnel. It is appropriate therefore that everyone involved in the care of the hospitalized child, whether working inside or outside the operating theatre, should be familiar with the basic techniques used in maintaining a favourable physiologic milieu in the face of surgical intrusion, while at the same time ensuring adequate anaesthesia. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.