Gasping infant for emergency neck exploration, anaesthesiologist’s nightmare.

ABSTRACT

Children are not small adults. They have certain anatomical & physiological differences as compared to adults. Paediatric patients have limited body reserve and so they deteriorate very fast. Anaesthetising paediatric patient requires good clinical judgment and thorough knowledge of paediatric anatomy and physiology. Anaesthetising an infant who has respiratory distress preoperatively increases risk several folds. Also the cause of respiratory distress is vital and that can have an important anaesthetic implications. Here we report a case of a gasping infant operated for emergency neck exploration under anaesthesia, where the cause of respiratory distress was unknown, making the case further interesting and challenging.