Pupillometer as a Pain Index During General Anesthesia

Validity of Pupil Diameter for Pain Monitoring During General Anesthesia in Children : a Prospective Observational Study

This study evaluates the validity of pupil diameter as an indicator of pain during surgery under general anesthesia.

Pupil diameter is known to be strongly correlated with sympathetic tone. During surgery under general anesthesia, there is no standardized means of pain assessment. As pain activates sympathetic nervous system, we hypothesized that pupil diameter can be a marker for pain during surgery.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Children undergoing surgery under general anesthesia with total time of less than two hours

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children whose parent or legal guardian declined to enroll
• Any use of opioids during surgery
• History of hypersensitivity to any anesthetic agents
• Any medication that can affect sympathetic nervous activity
• Presence of underlying ophthalmologic disease