Preanaesthetic medication with rectal diazepam in children

With the purpose of avoiding injections to children, the quality of rectal premedication with a solution of diazepam (Apozepam) was investigated in a double-blind study. Compared with a lytic cocktail (containing pethidine, promethazine and chlorpromazine), adequate preanaesthetic sedation was obtained with rectally administered diazepam in a dose of 0.75 mg kg-1. However, following rectal diazepam, the majority of the children were very restless during recovery, but the combination of diazepam premedications and a small dose of lytic cocktail given i.m. during anaesthesia secured a smooth recovery in practically all children. The proportion of cases classified as "unsatisfactory' was higher in children below the age of 5 years than in the older children.