Abstract:Objective To explore the significance of monitoring cerebral oxygen saturation in children through observing the effect of carbon dioxide pneumoperitoneum on cerebral oxygen saturation and emergence delirium in children of different ages. Methods A total of 90 patients, ASA physical status I, undergoing laparoscopic operation for inguinal hernia repair were included. Children were scheduled by age: group S (n?=?30) aged from 1 to 3; group M (n?=?30) from > 3 to 6 years old; group L (n?=?30) from > 6 to 14 years old. The method of anesthesia is total intravenous anesthesia. Patients underwent mechanical ventilation adjusted to achieving an end-tidal CO2 level of 35 to 45 mmHg. HR, SBP, SpO2, PETCO2, LrSO2 and RrSO2 were collected after induction of anesthesia (baseline, T0) and at pneumoperitoneum immediately (T1), 5 mins after pneumoperitoneum (T2), 10 mins after pneumoperitoneum (T3), cessation of pneumoperitoneum (T4), 5 mins after operation (T5). The maximum change in cerebral oxygen saturation and %ΔrSO2MAX were calculated. The times for operation, anesthesia, awaken and the agitation scores were recorded. Results There were differences in brain oxygen saturation among three groups at different time points (P 0.05). The brain oxygen desaturation levels of group S at T2, T3 moments was statistically lower than that of at T0, T1, T4 and T5 (P?0.05); there were not statistically significant at every moment in both M and L groups (P?> 0.05); there was no significant difference in cerebral oxygen saturation between the three groups at each time (P?> 0.05); compared with groups M and L, the agitation score of group S was significantly increased and the difference was statistically significant (P?0.05). %ΔrSO2MAX and the agitation score were negatively correlated with age (P?< 0.05), and there was no significant correlation between %ΔrSO2MAX and the agitation score (P?>?0.05). Conclusion Carbon dioxide pneumoperitoneum in children aged from 1 to 3 has a potential risk of decreased cerebral oxygen saturation, and the younger the age, the greater the effect. Emergence delirium is not associated with decreased cerebral oxygen saturation.