The cardiorespiratory effects of laparoscopic procedures in infants

We assessed the cardiorespiratory effects of laparoscopic procedures in 27 infants aged between 36 and 365 days. Infants were monitored and anaesthetised in a standardised manner. Heart rate, mean arterial pressure, end-tidal carbon dioxide and oxygen saturation were recorded, and blood gases were measured at 5 min after intubation, 15 and 30 min after carbon dioxide pneumoperitoneum, 5 min after desufflation and after extubation. The pH, PaO2, base excess, SaO2 and SpO2 decreased, and PCO2 increased by insufflation of carbon dioxide intraperitoneally, and improved following deflation. Changes in pH and PaO2 during the study were statistically significant (p < 0.0001). The increase in PaCO2 30 min after pneumoperitoneum was statistically significant when compared with initial values. Transient arrhythmias were observed in 10 infants 1 min after pneumoperitoneum. There were no statistically significant alterations in heart rate and systolic blood pressure.