Evaluation of plasma levels of melatonin after midazolam or sodium thiopental anesthesia in children

Association between sleep quality and general anesthesia in teenager under elective surgery: a prospective study

OBJECTIVE

Anesthesia was reported to be associated with lowered postoperative sleep quality in adults, but its effect on teenager was less understood. This study was conducted to explore the association between postoperative sleep quality and general anesthesia in teenagers.

METHODS

A prospective study was conducted. Teenagers aged from 12 to 16 years who were treated with general anesthesia and under urologic or otolaryngologic surgery were recruited. Healthy teenagers matched by sex and age (± 3 years) with the specific case were recruited as the controls. The Sleep Habits Questionnaire was applied to assess the sleep quality of the teenagers. We applied a logistic regression analysis to evaluate the association between general anesthesia in teenagers under elective surgery and poor sleep quality. Risk ratio (RR) and its corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were computed.

RESULTS

A total of 212 teenagers were included comprising 106 patients with general anesthesia who underwent urologic or otolaryngologic surgery and 106 healthy controls. The male participants were accounting for 47.2% (100/212). Anesthesia duration and surgery duration in the patients were 103.7 ± 14.4 min and 162.1 ± 17.0 min, respectively. Positive associations between general anesthesia and poor sleep quality in the 1st, 3rd, and 7th postoperative days were found, and RRs and their corresponding 95%CIs were 4.87 (1.72-13.79), 3.33 (1.22-9.1), and 3.26 (1.07-9.93), respectively. However, there was a lack of statistical associations before surgery and after 14 postoperative days.

CONCLUSIONS

Teenagers who were treated with general anesthesia and under urologic or otolaryngologic surgery might have poor sleep quality within 7 postoperative days.

Analysis of Different Melatonin Secretion Patterns in Children With Sleep Disorders: Melatonin Secretion Patterns in Children

The objective of this study was to analyze circadian patterns of urinary 6-sulphatoxymelatonin (aMT6s) excretion in children with primary sleep disorders in comparison with healthy controls. A total of 124 control children and 124 patients (aged 4-14 years) diagnosed with diverse primary sleep disorders were recruited. aMT6s concentrations were measured in diurnal and nocturnal urine, as well as in 24-hour urine. aMT6s levels were significantly higher and showed significantly more evident circadian variations in the control group ( P < .001). Four different melatonin (aMT) production and excretion patterns were distinguished in the group with sleep disorders: (1) standard aMT production pattern, (2) low aMT production pattern, (3) aMT production pattern with absence of circadian variation, and (4) aMT hyperproduction pattern. This study highlights the importance of analyzing specific alterations of aMT secretion in each sleep disorder and provides evidences to explain why not all children with sleep disturbances do respond to aMT treatment.

Evaluation of Plasma Melatonin Levels in Children With Afebrile and Febrile Seizures

BACKGROUND

Melatonin modulates central nervous system neuronal activity. We compared the melatonin levels of patients with febrile and afebrile seizures during and after seizure with those of healthy controls.

METHODS

We enrolled 59 individuals with afebrile and febrile seizures (mean age, 6.09 ± 4.46 years) and 28 age-, sex-, and weight-matched healthy children. Melatonin levels were measured near the time of a seizure (0 to 1 hour) and at 12 and 24 hours post-seizure, and control melatonin levels were measured from a single venous blood sample.

RESULTS

Plasma melatonin levels increased during seizures in the study group (P < 0.001). Post-seizure plasma melatonin levels were significantly lower in the study group than in the control group (P < 0.05). Plasma melatonin levels did not differ between patients with afebrile seizures who had and had not used antiepileptic drugs. Daytime (8 AM to 8 PM) and nighttime (8 PM to 8 AM) post-seizure melatonin levels were not significantly different.

CONCLUSIONS

Melatonin levels were lower in pediatric patients prone to seizures than in healthy children and increased during seizures. Further research is needed to test the role of melatonin in the pathophysiology and treatment of epilepsy.