Paediatric anaesthesia
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It is well established that children experience significant pain for a considerable period following adenotonsillectomy. Less is known, however, about pain following other common head and neck operations. ⋯ Adenotonsillectomy patients represent the biggest challenge in postoperative pain management of the head and neck surgeries evaluated. The low rates of pain, nausea, and vomiting reported in the days following surgery for the other procedures suggests that children can be cared for at home with simple analgesia. Discharge information and analgesia prescribing on discharge should be tailored to the operation performed.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Oct 2016
Respiratory depression detected by capnography among children in the postanesthesia care unit: a cross-sectional study.
Children are at risk for respiratory depression while recovering from anesthesia. Currently, monitoring children in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) with pulse oximetry is recommended. However, pulse oximetry does not reliably recognize hypoventilation or apnea, particularly in the presence of supplemental oxygen. Capnography is a sensitive monitor of ventilation that is not often used in the PACU. ⋯ Hypoventilation and apnea are common among children in the PACU; however, few interventions occur to address these events. Routine monitoring with capnography may improve recognition of respiratory depression and enhance patient safety in the PACU.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Oct 2016
Intraoperative management and early postoperative outcomes of pediatric renal transplants.
Smaller children are presenting for renal transplantation as the treatment of choice for end-stage renal disease. Adult donor organs are more successful than pediatric deceased donor organs. An adult kidney may sequester ~75% of the circulating volume of a 5 year-old child and requires significantly increased cardiac output to maintain renal perfusion. Treatment includes volume, inotropic or vasopressor agents, or central neuroaxial blockade for sympatholysis. We describe the perioperative anesthestic management as a guide to clinical outcomes. ⋯ Dopamine use was common and was an independent risk factor for delayed time to creatinine nadir. Many different agents were used to enhance renal perfusion. The 'supra-physiological' hemodynamics resulted in pulmonary edema in 33% of patients.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Oct 2016
Multivariable predictors of substantial blood loss in children undergoing craniosynostosis repair: implications for risk stratification.
Operative treatment of craniosynostosis is associated with substantial blood loss, often requiring transfusion of packed red blood cells (PRBC) and coagulation products. ⋯ Risk for substantial intraoperative blood loss can be assessed using TEG parameters and platelet fibrinogen product, whereas the need for coagulation products is strongly related to low MA. Patients susceptible to substantial blood loss can be risk stratified based on their TEG/platelet fibrinogen product profile.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Oct 2016
Observational StudyEpidural insertion height for ureteric reimplant surgery; does location matter?
Surgical correction of vesicoureteric reflux through ureteric reimplantation is a common, highly successful treatment. Postoperative pain can be severe and may relate to somatic wound pain from the lower abdominal incision or from visceral bladder spasm pain. ⋯ Despite some limitations in data collection and study design, the caudal catheter technique was superior at reducing pain interventions, particularly bladder spasm interventions. Overall epidural analgesia was not superior to a single-shot caudal followed by opioid infusion. The issue of bladder spasm may be similar to the phenomenon of sacral sparing in obstetric epidural anesthesia. Thus, regional techniques, such as caudal epidural, targeting a better balance between sacral and lumber nerves are required.