Intraocular pressure changes during general anesthesia in children, comparing no mask, undermask and laryngeal mask airway

Abstract

In a before and after study of 35 children's eyes, we compared the intraocular pressure (IOP) during general anesthesia consisting of 6-8 per cent sevoflurane in 100 per centoxygen at induction. IOP measurement, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and heart rate were recorded in patients with an applied face mask while the patient became unconscious and proceeded to surgery. These measurements were compared with those using no face-mask and after insertion of a laryngeal mask airway (LMA). The IOP with an applied face-mask was significantly statistically different from that after insertion of a LMA (12.8 ± 3.1 and 12.0 ± 3.3, p<0.05) but not significantly different cilnically. We concluded that clinically, the IOP does not change in children given general anesthesia with a correct size of face mask when compared with insertion of an LMA or no face mask.