Paediatric anaesthesia
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Aug 2014
Patient and procedural characteristics for successful and failed immediate tracheal extubation in the operating room following cardiac surgery in infancy.
Immediate extubation in the operating room after congenital heart surgery is practiced with rising frequency at many cardiac institutions to decrease costs and complications. Infants less than one year of age are also increasingly selected for this 'fast track'. However, factors for patient selection, success, or failure of this practice have not been well defined in this population, yet are critical for patient safety. ⋯ Extubation immediately after infant heart surgery in the operating room can be safely achieved. However, our data suggest that patients undergoing more complex procedures should be selected more conservatively for immediate early extubation.