Oxygen consumption is higher in infants. A healthy adult has a basal O2 consumption of 2-4 mL/Kg/min, while an infant has an oxygen requirement of 6-9 mL/Kg/min.
To account for this increased demand, infants maintain significantly higher alveolar ventilation compared to adults. This leads to a more rapid inhalational induction and anesthetic emergence.
This also results in faster onset of hypoxia and hypercapnia during periods of inadequate ventilation.
Additionally, infants have immature hypoxic and hypercapnic respiratory drives that further contribute to the risk of hypoxemia.
a) Infants have lower oxygen consumption than adults
b) Infants have slower anesthetic emergence than adults
c) Infants have higher alveolar ventilation than adults
d) Infants have immature respiratory drives
