Paediatric anaesthesia
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The ability to compare intensive care units (ICUs) and determine whether they provide the same level of care with regard to efficacy, efficiency, and quality is a cornerstone of understanding critical care and improving the quality of that care. Without collecting high-quality data, adjusted for severity of illness and analyzed in a comparative fashion, it would not be possible to describe best practices objectively, to identify which ICUs are doing a good job or to learn from those units that are. ⋯ A data collecting network, Virtual Pediatric Systems, limited liability corporation (VPS, LLC), designed for the purposes of determining where differences in critical care can be identified and the value that this adds in improving quality is discussed. Finally, results from this large data sharing collaborative describing the practice of pediatric critical care are included for the purpose of pediatric intensive care units practice benchmarks.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Jul 2011
ReviewAnesthesia and neurotoxicity to the developing brain: the clinical relevance.
Laboratory work has confirmed that general anesthetics cause increased neuronal apoptosis and changes to the morphology of dendritic spines in the developing brains of animals. It is an effect seen with most volatile anesthetics as well as with ketamine and propofol. The effects are dose dependent and seen over particular periods of early development. ⋯ These studies are also not without limitations. Thus it remains unclear what role anesthesia exposure in infancy actually plays in determining neurobehavioral outcome. To date studies can neither confirm that anesthesia plays a role nor rule it out.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Jul 2011
ReviewOutcome for the extremely premature neonate: how far do we push the edge?
Significant advances in perinatal and neonatal medicine over the last 20 years and the recent emergence of fetal surgery has resulted in anesthesia providers caring for a growing number of infants born at the margin of viability. Anesthetic management in this patient population has to take into consideration the immature function of many vital organ systems as well as the effects of the underlying disease processes, which can frequently lead to severe physiological derangements. ⋯ However, even with advanced anesthetic and surgical management and optimal intensive care, extremely premature infants face substantial postoperative morbidity and mortality, as well as prolonged hospital courses. In this article, we will discuss the following questions: How far have we come in improving outcomes of extreme prematurity? And what will the future medical and societal challenges be, as we continue to redefine the limits of viability?
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Jul 2011
ReviewCardiac arrest in anesthetized children: recent advances and challenges for the future.
Over the past 50 years the incidence of anesthesia-related cardiac arrest has declined, despite increased patient co-morbidities, the most significant determinant of anesthetic risk. Multiple factors have contributed to this improvement including safer anesthetic agents, better monitoring devices and the development of a specialized pediatric environment. Provider skill has benefitted from improved training and recognition of high-risk situations. Further improvements will depend on international, multispecialty efforts to standardize terminology and analyze large numbers of these infrequent adverse events.