Perioperative Respiratory Complications in Paediatric Patients under General Anaesthesia and Role of Absolute Eosinophil Count (AEC), Prospective Observational Study

The purpose of this prospective observational study was to determine the relationship between absolute eosinophil count (AEC) and perioperative respiratory complications in 200 paediatric patients aged 3-5 years who underwent elective general anaesthesia over a one-year period. AEC was measured prior to surgery. Three groups of patients with AEC 0-800 were studied. A single paediatric anaesthesiologist administered uniform anaesthesia to all patients.In each group, respiratory complications such as cough, stridor, bronchospasm, laryngospasm, and pulmonary oedema were studied.The rate and severity of complications increased proportionally with the increase in AEC, regardless of the patients' age, gender, or weight. Complications were treated with the appropriate medications and measures. Other non-respiratory effects of high AEC were investigated as well. Also an attempt was made to correlate the chest x ray findings with AEC.