Lactate, pyruvate, and excess lactate during ether and halothane anesthesia in infants and children.

Arterial blood lactate, pyruvate, and excess lactate (XL) were measured and calculated in 33 patients aged 7 months to 6 years over a period of 2 hours during repair of harelip or cleft palate. When the anesthetic was diethyl ether, lactate and pyruvate levels rose significantly 60 minutes after induction of anesthesia but did not rise thereafter. Excess lactate appeared 60 minutes after induction of ether anesthesia, but it, too, showed no further increase. When the anesthetic was halothane there was no significant change in lactate, pyruvate, or XL. Changes with ether were not age-related, nor could they be correlated with changes in rectal or skin temperature. The responses of lactate, pyruvate and XL to ether anesthesia in the present study were not significantly different from those found by others in adults.