A Comparison of Preoxygenation in Children and Adults

Mee Sun Cho, Guie Yong Lee, Jong In Han, Dong Yeon Kim, Rack Kyong Chung, Jong Hak Kim, Chi Hyo Kim, Choon Hi Lee

Copyright ⓒ 1998. Ewha Womans University School of Medicine. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Published Online: Sep 30, 1998

Abstract

Objectives

Preoxygenation is recommended in order to prevent hypoxemia with hypoventilation or apnea during induction of anesthesia. The purpose of this study was to determine the duration of preoxygenation required to achieve an end-tidal oxygen fraction(FE'O₂) of 0.9 in children and adults.

Method

In 24 healthy children and adults breathing 100% oxygen, end tidal oxygen and carbon dioxide concentration have been measured at 15 seconds interval from the start of liter per minute. The gas sampling line of the Capnomac II(Datex, Helsinki, Finland) was placed in the nasal cavity.

Results

The study showed that all children attained an FE'O₂ of 0.9 within 75s of preoxygenation, but adults had not reached an FE'O₂ of 0.9 within 180s.

Conclusions

More oxygen wash-in would be expected in children. We suggested that at least 3 min of preoxygenation should be performed before intravenous induction of anesthesia in children.

Keywords: Preoxygenation; FE'O₂; Children; Adults