How is anesthesia administered to children?
General anesthesia is usually given to children in two stages. First, a relaxing drug is given which causes the child to drift off to sleep. This drug is usually delivered as a gas through a scented face mask. An intravenous (IV) line is usually placed in a vein of the arm or leg after a young child is asleep from the mask. Older children may have the IV line placed before going to sleep. After the child is asleep, a mask may be held over the child’s mouth and nose for a brief procedure (such as opening blocked tear ducts). For most eye procedures, however, a breathing-tube is placed in the windpipe to allow the anesthesiologist to control the child’s breathing and maintain anesthesia during surgery. Anesthetic agents (inhalation agents) delivered through the tube or medications given intravenously maintain the anesthesia. The breathing tube is removed at the end of surgery before the child is fully awake. The IV can be removed in the recovery period when the child is drinking well and
