Background: Biliary atresia is an extrahepatic progressive obliterate cholangiopathy that
occurs in infants. Kasai procedure, a surgical method that can help re-establish bile flow
from the liver into the intestine, is its first line treatment. Since infants with biliary atresia
already have advanced hepatic dysfunction, all kinds of schemes should be considered to
minimize further liver damage during surgery. The objective of this study was to compare
the postoperative hepatic functions between the two commonly used inhalational anesthetics
in infants undergoing the Kasai procedure (i.e., desflurane and sevoflurane).
Methods: This prospective, randomized, double-blind, single-center, and parallel group
study included 40 children undergoing Kasai procedure. They were randomly allocated
to Group S (sevoflurane) or Group D (desflurane). All the patients were anesthetized with
designated anesthetic agent with the end-tidal concentration of about 0.8–1 minimum
alveolar concentration. Postoperative hepatic functions were assessed by aspartate
aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), albumin, prothrombin time,
and total bilirubin.
Results: A total of 38 patients were selected for the study. In both groups, AST, ALT were
increased in magnitude to the peak on postoperative day 0 and decreased to preoperative
value at postoperative day 3. There were no significant differences between the
groups in any laboratory results related to liver function.
Conclusions: Sevoflurane and desflurane, inhalation anesthetics for maintaining anesthesia
used in infants undergoing the Kasai procedure, did not show any difference in
preserving postoperative hepatic function.
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