Abstract: OBJECTIVE To explore the incidence of respiratory system complications in children with mild to moderate upper respiratory tract infections after general anesthesia and assess the safety of the general anesthesia so as to provide guidance for clinical treatment. METHODS A total of 148 children with limb open trauma, aged from 30 days to 14 years old, who were treated in the hospital from Jan 2014 to Dec 2014, were enrolled in the study and divided into the three groups according to the body signs, symptoms of preoperative upper respiratory tract infections: the moderate upper respiratory tract infection (URI) group with 20 cases, mild URI group with 26 cases, and non-URI group with 98 cases.The incidence of respiratory system complications was assessed and compared among the children during the surgery or after the surgery for one day, and the statistical analysis of data was performed with the use of SPSS20.0 software. RESULTS There was no significant difference in the cough, phlegm, glossoptosis, bronchospasm, body temperature no less than 38 ℃, or SpO₂ among the three groups during the surgery or after the surgery.The incidence of holding breath was increased, and there was significant difference between the moderate URI group and the non-URI group (P＜0.05).There was significant difference in the increase of incidence of cough between the moderate URI group and the mild URI group (P＜0.05).As compared with the change of intraoperative heart rate among the children aged from 4 to 14 years old, there was significant difference between the moderate URI group and the non-URI group (P＜0.05); among the children aged no more than 3 years old, the mild URI group was significantly lower than that of the moderate URI group(P＜0.05). CONCLUSION The incidence of complications is remarkably increased in the limb open trauma children with moderate URI, and it is suggested that the comprehensive risk assessment should be conducted for the general anesthesia children complicated with mild to moderate upper respiratory tract infections and that the general anesthesia should be taken by serious consideration so as to prevent unexpected medical accidents.