Oral premedication in children

Preoperative and postoperative sedation, postoperative analgesia and vomiting were assessed following four different oral premedications in 143 children aged 1-10 years, weighing 10-30 kg, and undergoing elective adenotonsillectomy or inguinal surgery. Diazepam, diazepam combined with droperidol, trimeprazine and trimeprazine combined with droperidol were compared in a double-blind trial in conjunction with a standardised inhalational anaesthetic technique employing an intraoperative narcotic. Trimeprazine produced significantly more preoperative sedation (P less than 0.001) and was associated with enhanced postoperative analgesia (P less than 0.01). The incidence of postoperative vomiting was significantly less in the group receiving trimeprazine (P less than 0.001). The addition of droperidol to diazepam and trimeprazine only marginally improved the performance of those drugs but significantly prolonged postoperative recovery times. This was more marked when droperidol was combined with trimeprazine.