Anesthesietechnieken voor adenotomie en (adeno)tonsillectomie bij kinderen onder 15 jaar in Nederland

- An inquiry was held among anaesthesiologists of all Dutch hospitals with an ENT surgeon on the staff to gain information on the anaesthetic techniques used for adenotomy (AD) and (adeno)tonsillectomy ((A)TE) in children under 15 years in The Netherlands in 1986. About 60.000 AD and (A)TE operations were done in The Netherlands in that year. This means a decrease when compared with ten years ago but still a considerable number – also in comparison with other countries. AD and (A)TE surgery was performed on a clinical basis in only about 24 of all cases in contrast to ten years ago (86). Similar to 1976, the operative technique for tonsillectomy was the guillotine technique according to Sluder in more than 97 of the cases in 1986 while the anaesthetic technique consisted of an inhalation anaesthetic without intubation in 87 of the cases. No form of instrumental monitoring was used in 76 of the children. Routine anaesthetic techniques differed in some respects in academic hospitals when compared with non-academic hospitals. On the whole, instrumental monitoring was employed more often in the group of children who had their tracheas intubated during AD and (A)TE surgery. Lethality for AD and (A)TE surgery in children in The Netherlands is estimated to be about 1:25.000.