Physiologic considerations in the surgery of infants.

THE physiologic responses to surgical situations encountered in infancy and early childhood differ from those expected in adult patients. As the age of a child increases, his physiology approaches that of an adult and conversely the younger (or at times the smaller) the pediatric patient, the greater is his variation in physiologic response. The differences are not solely quantitative, and many deviations from the expected are encountered when the sick infant is treated like a miniature adult.