ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To determine 1) Success rate of using fresh gas flow (FGF) 1 l.min(-1) compared to 2 l.min(-1) in pediatric patients 2) Necessity of using anesthetic agent analyzer 3) predicting volatile anesthetic concentration 4) cost difference. METHOD: Seventy-seven patients (age 10 days to 8 years) who underwent general anesthesia were randomly allocated into 2 groups: the control group (FGF 2 l.min(-1)) and the study group (FGF 1 l.min(-1)). Outcome measures included system leakage, SaO2, PECO2, FiO2, Fi and FeN2O, isoflurane dial setting, Fi and Fe isoflurane, isoflurane mass consumed and sodalime used. RESULTS: There was no difference between the groups regarding demographic data, duration of surgery and anesthesia. Success rate in using FGF 2 l.min(-1) was 100% and FGF 1 l.min(-1) was 92%. All failure cases (8%) were due to system leakage. The necessity of using a capnometer was similar at 5.3-7.7% in both groups. FiO2 was > or = 0.3 at any time. FiN2O and FeN2O were not different. Fi isoflurane was 13-15% lower than dial setting. Overall savings from using FGF 1 l/min was 37.8%. CONCLUSION: FGF 1 l.min(-1) could be safely used in most pediatric patients with lower cost. Capnometer was recommended, whereas FiO2 and Fi isoflurane could be clinically adjusted