[Diagnostic and interventional operations in childhood: anesthesiology management]

Diagnostic and interventional procedures in children often need to be performed under sedation. This prevents pain and stress in children and provides optimal examination conditions. For complete immobilization and stress shielding the depth of sedation often corresponds with general anesthesia. Therefore, established safety standards need to be observed and a fundamental precondition is implementation by a skilled anesthesiologist who can handle the anesthesiology procedure and its possible complications. Organization, schedule, medication, equipment, monitoring and post-anesthesiology care should be institutionally defined. A professional anesthesiology management of pediatric patients is an important factor to increase the quality of care, patient safety and patient satisfaction.