A seven-year-old male sustained a compound fracture of the left radius and ulna, requiring reduction and skin closure. It was proposed that this be a same-day admission, and that he would be sufficiently recovered to be dismissed in the afternoon following morning surgery.

 The anesthetist decided that a short-acting general anesthetic would be most practicable. An IV was successfully placed in the right arm.

Case author: Hugh S. Mathewson, M.D., Professor Emeritus, School of Allied Health, Department of Nurse Anesthesia, University of Kansas Medical Center
case editor: Michael Gordon, Ph.D.