This article is only available in the PDF format. Download the PDF to view the article, as well as its associated figures and tables.
To the Editor: Thank you for forwarding the letter of Dr. Norman M. O'Farrell. Our choice for anesthesia for epilation in children under the age of 3 years was dictated by several unpleasant experiences which we had with intravenous barbiturates and tribromoethanol (Avertin) as I pointed out in my article. We also attempted to use pentobarbital (Nembutal) and phenobarbital sodium in doses similar to those used by Dr O'Farrell. Several children became highly excited subsequent to the administration of these drugs, and we therefore abandoned their use because of the unsatisfactory result in the patient. The time of treatment for each port is approximately two minutes with our apparatus. Hence, for the occipital portal and for the frontal portal, the head must be maintained in a flexed position, and we find that there is marked accumulation of mucus in the pharynx. Since then, with some of the patients who were