Anaesthesia for burns in children: a review of procedures practised at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town.

Burns anaesthesia for children is a potentially hazardous procedure. We describe our technique developed over a number of years which allows a relatively large number of patients to be dealt with safety in limited theatre time. The technique involves an oral premedication with atropine (0.02 mg/kg), trimeprazine (3 mg/kg) and droperidol (0.2 mg/kg). Intramuscular ketamine (10 mg/kg) is used after an initial halothane induction and anaesthesia is maintained with intravenous ketamine, and a nitrous oxide/oxygen mixture given via nasal prongs. The advantages of the technique together with precautions and monitoring employed are discussed.