[Mean body temperature during anesthesia in children with burns--its information value and use]

In forty-four children with total body surface amounting to 0.4-0.6 sq. m., and burnt surface ranging from 6 to 60 per cent, measurements of the mean body temperature are done during anesthesia with halothane, methoxyflurane and ketamine. Group one is made of 14 children anesthesized with halothane, nitrous oxide and oxygen in conditions of controlled ventilation; group two--16 children anesthesized with methoxyflurane, nitrous oxide and oxygen under controlled ventilation, and group three--14 children subjected to intravenous ketamine anesthesia with spontaneous respiration. Rectal and skin temperatures are registered at 15-minute intervals in the course of two-hour-long anesthesia. The mean body temperatures are calculated. The study results point to a significant temperature reduction on the first and second hour, and after extubation, but there are no differences between the individual groups. The mean body temperature has low informative value, and is mainly applied in thermal balance assessment.