Abstract: PURPOSE: To investigate the effect and safety of pentazocine to relieve the emergence agitation on children, who received cleft palate surgery during the recovery period of general anesthesia. METHODS: Sixty children, ASA I~II,aged 1-3 years old who received cleft palate surgery, were randomly divided into 3 groups(n=20): group P1, group P2 and group NS. When entering the post-anesthetic care unit (PACU), the children were intravenously injected of pentazocine: 0.5 mg/kg (P1), 0.3 mg/kg (P2) and 0.9% NaCl (NS), respectively. Coughing score, Ramsay sedation score, pediatric anesthesia emergence delirium (PAED) and modified children's hospital of eastern ontario pain scale (m-CHEOPS) of the 3 groups were compared. Changes of HR, MBP, RR, SPO₂ at each time point and the incidence of adverse events were observed and recorded. SPSS 19.0 software package was used for data processing. RESULTS: During the recovery period of general anesthesia, the Ramsay sedation score of group P1 and P2 was significantly higher than group NS(P<0.05) ; cough score of group P1 and P2 was significantly lower than group NS(P<0.05); PAED score and m-CHEOPS score of group P1 was significantly lower than group NS(P<0.01); group P2 was lower than group NS, but the difference was not significant(P>0.05). There was no significant difference in recovery time and the adverse reaction between the 3 groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Injection of pentazocine after operation can effectively reduce the incidence of agitation during the recovery period of general anesthesia in children who received cleft palate surgery, and the children in the recovery period are more stable and safer, the recommended dose of pentazocine is 0.5 mg/kg.

Key words: Pentazocine, Cleft palate, Emergence agitation, Children, General anesthesia