Evaluation of gastric intramucosal pH during and after pediatric cardiac surgery.

Objectives: In adult patients, intramucosal pH (pHi) has been advocated to detect postoperative complications. The purpose of our study was to evaluate this technique in pediatric patients during and after cardiac surgery. Methods: Thirty-five infants (age: 5 days to 15 years, median 1.8 years; and weight: 3.2‐32 kg, median 9.8 kg) were studied. pHi was measured before cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), after 30 min of CPB, prior to weaning off CPB, at intensive care unit arrival, and 6, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h after surgery. Results: There were no complications related to the tonometer. A pathologically low pHiB 7.32 was found during surgery in less than 17%, at intensive care unit arrival in 83% a…