Inhalation versus balanced anesthesia in pediatric patients.

Materials and methods This retrospective study compared the results of anesthesia in patients who underwent inguinal herniorrhaphy using two different methods: inhalation anesthesia and balanced anesthesia. For the purposes of this study, inhalation anesthesia refers to an anesthetic technique in which the primary anesthetic is introduced to the bloodstream via the lungs rather than by injection. Patients who received adjunctive muscle relaxants were not included in the study. While patients receiving any potent inhalation agent as the primary anesthetic would have qualified, note that the only agent patients received was halothane in conjunction with oxygen and nitrous oxide. Balanced anesthesia refers to an anesthetic technique in which the primary anesthetic agent is injected and used in conjunction with a muscle relaxant and an inhaled oxygen-nitrous oxide mixture. In this study, the injected primary agent was always a narcotic. If potent inhalation agents were used for induction, they were discontinued as soon as an intravenous route was established. Two groups of patients were selected and the results of their anesthetic experiences compared. The first group consisted of 22 patients who received an inhalation anesthetic. Group II consisted of eight patients who received a balanced anesthetic. The subjects were chosen randomly from patients who had undergone anesthesia for inguinal herniorrhaphy at the Children's Hospital of Birmingham, Alabama during a period extending from January, 1979 to May, 1980. In order to have two comparable groups in which the major differing factor was the type of anesthetic used, the following criteria were set for entrance into the study (Table I) . Patients who did not meet all of the criteria were not included. 1. Patients underwent repair of inguinal hernia only, without any associated procedure such as umbilical hernia repair or circumcision. 2. Patient age was between 12 months and 5 years at the time of operation. 3. Patients received no preoperative medication other than atropine or glycopyrrolate. 4. Patients were all ASA classification I or II.