Current opinion in anaesthesiology
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Jun 2017
ReviewThe American College of Surgeons Children's Surgery Verification and Quality Improvement Program: implications for anesthesiologists.
The Task Force for Children's Surgical Care, an ad-hoc multidisciplinary group of invited leaders in pediatric perioperative medicine, was assembled in May 2012 to consider approaches to optimize delivery of children's surgical care in today's competitive national healthcare environment. Over the subsequent 3 years, with support from the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and Children's Hospital Association (CHA), the group established principles regarding perioperative resource standards, quality improvement and safety processes, data collection, and verification that were used to develop an ACS-sponsored Children's Surgery Verification and Quality Improvement Program (ACS CSV). ⋯ The present review outlines the history of the ACS CSV, key elements of the program, and the standards specific to pediatric anesthesiology. As with the pediatric trauma programs initiated more than 40 years ago, this program has the potential to significantly improve surgical care for infants and children in the United States and Canada.
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Jun 2017
ReviewThe implications of immunization in the daily practice of pediatric anesthesia.
Vaccination is an important prevention measure, but requires an intact immune system. Surgery and anesthesia suppress the immune system and may interfere with the benefits of immunization. Moreover, common vaccine side-effects may be misinterpreted as postsurgical complications. This review summarizes the essential basis of immunization and its potential interactions with anesthesia. ⋯ Inactive vaccines are generally well tolerated. Live vaccines provide an effective and long-lasting immunization, but may carry more serious complications. Elective operations should be postponed 1 week after an inactive vaccine and 3 weeks after immunization with a live vaccine. To avoid misinterpretation of vaccine-related side-effects, vaccination should be also delayed after surgery.
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Jun 2017
ReviewPediatric sleep-disordered breathing: an update on diagnostic testing.
Recent advances in diagnostic testing for obstructive sleep apnea in children have refined the standard tests while identifying several new tools that hold promise to radically change how we diagnose sleep apnea. ⋯ The gold standard polysomnogram has been refined to permit its application in a modified form at home and for brief examinations in children. This standard has been challenged on several fronts, including questionnaires, nocturnal oximetry, drug-induced sleep endoscopy, and noninvasive urinary biomarkers that may ultimately supplant polysomnography as the gold standard to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in children.
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Jun 2017
ReviewAnesthesia in patients with infectious disease caused by multi-drug resistant bacteria.
Up to 50% of specific bacterial strains in healthcare admission facilities are multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs). Involvement of anesthesiologists in management of patients carrying/at risk of carrying MDROs may decrease transmission in the Operating Room (OR). ⋯ Discussions regarding the management of potential MDRO carriers must include anesthesia providers to optimize infection control interventions as well as the anesthesia method, the location of surgery and recovery and the details of patient transport. Anesthesia staff must learn to identify patients at risk for MDRO infection. Antibiotic prophylaxis, although not evidence based, should adhere to known best practices. Adjuvant therapies (e.g. intranasal Mupirocin and bathing with antiseptics) should be considered. Addition of nonmanual OR cleaning methods such as ultraviolet irradiation or gaseous decontamination is encouraged. Anesthesiologists must undergo formal training in sterile drug preparation and administration.
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Adverse long-term impact of general anesthesia on the developing brain is a widely discussed and controversial issue with potential public health relevance. The goal of this article is to give insights into the most recent experimental and clinical observations aimed to advance our understanding in this field. ⋯ Experimental data with reasonable translational relevance suggest that early-life exposure to general anesthetics can induce lasting behavioral and cognitive deficits. In contrast, human studies provide, at best, mixed evidence about developmental anesthesia neurotoxicity. Future research, both experimental and human, is needed to clarify this important issue.