BackgroundCleft surgery in infants includes special risks due to the kind of the malformation. These risks can be attributed in part to the age and the weight of the patient. Whereas a lot of studies investigated the long-term facial outcome of cleft surgery depending on the age at operation, less is known about the complications arising during a cleft surgery in early infancy.MethodsWe investigated the incidence and severity of perioperative complications in 174 infants undergoing primary cleft surgery. The severity and the complications were recorded during the intraoperative and the early postoperative period according to the classification by Cohen.ResultsOur study revealed that minor complications occurred in 50 patients. Severe complications were observed during 13 operations. There was no fatal complication in the perioperative period. The risk of complications was found to be directly correlated to the body weight at the time of the surgery. Most of the problems appeared intraoperatively, but they were also followed by complications immediately after the extubation.ConclusionIn conclusion, cleft surgery in infancy is accompanied by frequent and sometimes severe perioperative complications that may be attributed to this special surgical field.

The decision on whether or not an elective tracheotomy in major head and neck tumour surgery is necessary can be facilitated using this score system which is based on objective facts. It may reduce post-operative complications and contribute to safer treatment.

Surgery, with all its potential influencing factors, together with chemotherapy given about 4 weeks previously do not seem to have a major impact on the pharmacokinetic behavior and the between-subject variability of paracetamol after intravenous administration.

Both HES 130/0.4 and human albumin 5% were effective for haemodynamic stabilization in non-cardiac surgery of young infants with no adverse impact on coagulation or other safety parameters in our study population.

An 11-mo-old child with primary hyperoxaluria was scheduled for a nephroureteromia procedure. Anesthesia was induced and maintained with sevoflurane. Two days after the operation, a hepatomegaly was diagnosed, and a considerable increase in liver enzymes was observed. These pathologic findings disappeared without treatment within 7 days. In a subsequent operation 2 wk later, general anesthesia was performed (sevoflurane was avoided). After the second operation, no pathologic findings could be detected. Nothing in this patient's disease or the conduct of the anesthesia suggested a cause for the injury other than an idiosyncratic response to sevoflurane.