The Application of Sleep Deprivation Combined With Chloral Hydrate on Pediatric Dermatological Surgery

BACKGROUND In small dermatological surgeries for infant and child patients, it is required that the child be in a quiet state. However, general anesthesia not only requires the participation of professional anesthesiologists for surgery but also has a high cost and anesthesia risks. Parents have a low acceptance rate. At present, chloral hydrate combined with local anesthesia for sedation has been widely used in various pediatric examination and treatment projects. OBJECTIVE To retrospectively analyze the impact of sleep deprivation on pediatric dermatological surgery performed under local anesthesia following chloral hydrate enema. METHOD A retrospective review was conducted on 280 pediatric patients who underwent dermatological surgery or tissue pathology biopsy from September 2022 to March 2023. The study analyzed the success rate of local anesthesia following chloral hydrate enema under different states of wakefulness and whether the surgical processes for infants and toddlers were conducted smoothly. RESULTS Among the 215 patients who underwent sleep deprivation, the successful completion rate of the surgery reached 87%. By contrast, only 29.2% of the 65 patients who did not experience sleep deprivation completed the surgery. The patients' vital signs remained stable throughout the surgery, and no adverse reactions occurred when the patients were awakened 30 minutes to 1 hour after the surgery. CONCLUSION Sleep deprivation in infants and toddlers can enhance the anesthetic and immobilization effects in dermatological surgery, significantly reducing the patients' negative emotions, such as crying and fear, increasing the patient's cooperation during the surgery, and improving parental satisfaction. The clinical operation is convenient and thus worth promoting extensively.