Vomiting and recovery after outpatient tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy in children. Comparison of four anesthetic techniques using nitrous oxide with halothane or propofol.

BACKGROUND: The authors' purpose in this study was to compare prospectively four different anesthetic induction and maintenance techniques using nitrous oxide with halothane and/or propofol for vomiting and recovery after outpatient tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy procedures in children. METHODS: Eighty unpremedicated children, aged 3-10 yr, were assigned randomly to four groups: group H/H, 0.5-2% halothane induction/halothane maintenance; group P/P, 3-5 mg.kg-1 propofol induction and 0.1-0.3 mg.kg-1.min-1 propofol maintenance; group H/P, 0.1-0.3 mg.kg-1.min-1 halothane induction/propofol maintenance; and group P/H, 3-5 mg.kg-1 propofol induction and 0.5-2% halothane maintenance. Nitrous oxide (67%) and oxygen (33%) were administered in all the groups. Other treatments and procedures were standardized intra- and postoperatively. Results of postoperative vomiting and recovery were analyzed in the first 6 h and beyond 6 h. RESULTS: Logistic regression showed that vomiting occurred 3.5 times as often when halothane was used for maintenance of anesthesia (groups H/H and P/H) compared with the use of propofol (groups P/P and H/P; Odds Ratio 3.5; 95% confidence interval 1.3 and 9.4, respectively; P = 0.012). A significant association between vomiting ( < 6 h: yes/no) and discharge times ( > 6 h: yes/no) (Odd's Ratio = 3.6; 95% confidence interval: 1.02, 12.4, respectively) (P = 0.046) was shown. However, no significant differences among the groups in the incidence of vomiting beyond 6 h, recurrent vomiting, or hospital discharge times were shown. CONCLUSIONS: After tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy procedures, despite reduced postoperative vomiting with use of propofol rather than halothane, along with nitrous oxide for anesthetic maintenance, the authors found no differences in "true" endpoints such as unplanned admissions or discharge times. Among the groups, the main factor that delayed hospital discharge beyond 6 h was vomiting within the first 6 h.

Invasive Aspergillus sinusitis in pediatric bone marrow transplant patients. Evaluation and management.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the following: the incidence of invasive Aspergillus sinusitis (AS); the value of surveillance nasal cultures and screening radiologic studies in predicting AS; the clinical criteria used to decide on surgical biopsy in patients suspected of having AS; the surgical and medical management of AS; and the outcome of AS in the peritransplantation period of children who underwent bone marrow transplantation. DESIGN: Retrospective medical chart review. SETTING: Tertiary care children's hospital. PATIENTS: Eighty pediatric patients who underwent bone marrow transplantation for a variety of refractory malignant neoplasms or lymphohematopoietic disorders at the Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC, from April 1, 1988, to September 30, 1993. INTERVENTION: Diagnostic surgical biopsies, surgical débridement, and treatment with amphotericin B. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Resolution of AS and discharge from the hospital. RESULTS: Seventy-two patients had screening sinus radiographs, 27 of which showed abnormalities. Aspergillus sinusitis developed in three of the patients with abnormal screening radiographs. Fifty-eight patients had screening nasal cultures. One culture was positive for Aspergillus, and histopathologically proved AS developed in this patient. Twelve diagnostic biopsies were done in nine patients. Three biopsy specimens showed histopathologic evidence of AS. The three patients with AS were successfully treated with aggressive surgical and medical therapy and were discharged from the hospital. CONCLUSION: The incidence of AS was 4% (3/80) in the patients who underwent bone marrow transplantation. Screening radiographs, while not a good predictor of AS, have a role in evaluation of patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation to define preexisting sinus disease. Screening nasal cultures do not reliably predict AS. When AS is suspected and diagnostic biopsy is considered, the seven clinical criteria outlined in this article should be used. Survival of immunocompromised patients with AS requires early diagnosis and aggressive surgical and medical therapy.

Adenotonsillectomy in children with sickle cell disease.

The pediatric patient with sickle cell disease risks having a vasoocclusive episode during adenotonsillectomy under general anesthesia. With proper patient selection and appropriate perioperative management, adenotonsillectomy can be accomplished safely in children with sickle cell disease. We review the management of 10 children with sickle hemoglobinopathies who had adenotonsillectomy. Indications for surgery were recurrent streptococcal infections in four and obstructive sleep apnea in six of these children. No complications resulted from any of these procedures, and the mean length of postoperative hospitalization was 2.4 days. The principal feature of preoperative management was the transfusion of red blood cells to suppress the patient's endogenous erythropoiesis and to reduce the concentration of sickle cell hemoglobin to less than 30%. Though a prospective, multi-institutional clinical trial will ultimately be required to settle the issue of the safest preoperative management of children with sickle cell disease, balancing the risks of transfusion-related complications against anesthesia-related complications, our experience supports the operative safety of hypertransfusion therapy in children with sickle cell disease.

Treatment of acute maxillary sinusitis in childhood: a comparative study of amoxicillin and cefaclor.

Maxillary sinus aspiration and quantitative culture of the aspirate were performed in 50 patients, ranging in age from 1 to 16 years, with clinical and radiographic evidence of acute sinusitis. Of 79 sinuses aspirated, at least one was found to be infected in 35 (70%) children. Streptococcus pneumoniae, Branhamella catarrhalis, and Haemophilus influenzae were the most common organisms recovered. All H. influenzae were nontypeable. Twenty percent of the H. influenzae and 27% of the B. catarrhalis organisms were beta-lactamase positive and amoxicillin resistant. The subjects received either amoxicillin or cefaclor at a dose of 40 mg/kg/day in three doses for 10 days. The clinical cure rate with amoxicillin was 81%, compared to 78% with cefaclor. Radiographic improvement was similar in both treatment groups. Antibiotic therapy failed in four patients; three had been given amoxicillin, and one cefaclor. In three of these, a beta-lactamase-positive antibiotic-resistant bacterial species was recovered from the maxillary sinus aspirate; the fourth aspirate was sterile.

Bacteriology of the maxillary sinuses in patients with cystic fibrosis.

The maxillary sinuses of 20 patients (median age, 15 years) with cystic fibrosis were examined with ultrasound, radiography, and transantral sinus aspiration (14 bilateral and six unilateral for a total of 34 aspirates). The sinus aspirations were performed with careful sterile techniques, and the material that was recovered was cultured quantitatively for both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Nineteen (95%) of the 20 patients had at least one positive (greater than or equal to 10(4) colony-forming units/ml) culture of sinus aspirate. The organisms most commonly recovered from the sinus aspirates were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (13), Haemophilus influenzae (10), streptococci (five), and anaerobes (five). There was no association between the bacterial species recovered from the sinus and the predominant bacterial species in the nasopharyngeal, throat, or sputum culture. Although most patients had been chronically receiving therapeutic oral doses of antimicrobial agents, bacteria sensitive to the antimicrobial agents that the patient had been taking (excluding P. aeruginosa) were recovered from the sinuses of nine of these 10 patients.

Acute maxillary sinusitis in children.

We sought to correlate the clinical, radiographic, and bacteriologic findings in maxillary sinusitis in 30 children who had both upper-respiratory-tract symptoms and abnormal maxillary radiographs. Cough, nasal discharge, and fetid breath were the most common signs, but fever was present inconsistently. Facial pain or swelling and headache were prominent symptoms in older children. Bacterial colony counts of greater than or equal to 10(4) colony-forming units per milliliter were found in 34 of 47 sinus aspirates obtained from 23 children. The most common species recovered were Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Branhamella catarrhalis. No anaerobic bacteria were isolated. Viruses were isolated from only two sinus aspirates. There was a poor correlation between the predominant species of bacteria recovered from either the nasopharyngeal or throat culture and the bacteria isolated from the sinus aspirate. This study demonstrates that children with both upper-respiratory-tract symptoms and abnormal sinus radiographs are likely to harbor bacteria in their sinuses, suggesting that such children have bacterial sinusitis.