Assessment of immediate post-anaesthetic recovery in young children following intravenous morphine infusions, halothane, and isoflurane

Within 15 minutes of terminating general anaesthesia, progressive recovery of consciousness, spontaneous ventilation and cough, and limb movements were assessed in 60 young children (age range 0-5 years, mean ± SEM; 2.$3 ± 0.34; weight 13.86 ± 0.41 kg). All patients were ASA physical status class I-III, received a standard intravenous induction (atropine 0.02 mg·kg-1, thiopental sodium 5 mg·kg-1, diazepam 0.2mg·kg-1), were intubated with an orotracheat tube following the administration of metocurine, 0.4 mg·kg-1, and were maintained under general anaesthesia with nitrous oxide and oxygen in a 70:30 mixture administered by a T-piece circuit. They were ventilated mechanically to maintain normal blood- oxygen tension and normocarbia.