[Monitoring in pediatric anesthesia].

The monitor plan should be tailored to the individual patient, keeping in mind two main factors: the patient condition and the type of surgery to be performed. The advances in technology have greatly widened the scope of useful information to the physician, though direct contact and observation of the patient still remains the grounding of sound monitoring. In paediatric age the monitoring of breathing is of paramount importance since the high oxygen consumption-FRC oxygen supply ratio make children particularly prone to develop hypoxaemia very quickly. The minimal monitoring standard should include pulse oxymeter, a capnograph, an ECG monitor, oscillometer for noninvasive blood pressure measure and in the infant and young child a thermometer probe. For major surgery, in addition to mandatory monitoring many other physiological variables are checked frequently.