The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 31, 61-65, Copyright © 1981 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Diaphragm pacing in infants and children: report of a simplified technique and review of experience
MN Ilbawi, CE Hunt, SY DeLeon and FS Idriss
Diaphragm pacing was used for treating 6 infants with congenital
hypoventilation syndrome at the Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago. All
patients had inadequate sleep-related ventilation and absent ventilatory
response to hypercarbia. A single incision was utilized to implant both the
electrode and receiver. The phrenic nerve was isolated with a piece of
pericardium to minimize injury. All infants required bilateral nerve pacing
to obtain satisfactory ventilation (normal transcutaneous measurements of
partial pressure of oxygen and end-tidal pressure of carbon dioxide). The
technical details described here are helpful in achieving successful
phrenic nerve pacing in infants with results comparable to those reported
in adults.